In 1981, the Houston Darts Association was booming, with around 1,000 members playing on Tuesday & Wednesday nights
But.. at Rick’s Darts & Games, we were busy teaching -lots- of new darters. Many did not want to attempt playing league in a bar crowded with experienced players.
The HDA already had its hands full, so Loretta & I put together a Thursday Night Novice League and ran it for 2 seasons. Once it was established, we turned it over to the HDA to run as their 3rd weekly night of play.
Each team had a simplified format & a volunteer mentor, often an A or AA player. They showed up for matches to coach the novices about the ins & outs of darts league play. These more-skilled advisors did not usually play in the Novice matches, although if a team was short a player, they might occasionally play a match against an equally-skilled opposing team’s coach.
Over the last 48 years, we did variations of this several times, setting up beginner leagues and running them for awhile. Then, once established, we turned them over to the HDA.
This was usually done when we had novice-level customers who wanted to begin playing league with a little easier format, and when the HDA was short of resources to run an extra league division.
I have boxes full of more Darts History going back to the early ’70s, and will gradually scan & post it here. Enjoy!
PS: If any of the players on this stats sheet are still around & see this, we’d love to hear from you!
Rick Osgood
Rick’s Darts & Games
