Hitting a bull's-eye
It was a bull's-eye for Juneau's first American Dart Organization-sanctioned tournament, held this weekend at Squires Rest in Auke Bay.
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The first Southeast Shootout pitted some of the state's top dart throwers against each other Nov. 14, 15 and 16, with over $1,000 being paid out to the coed field.
"We have five of our top 10 ranked state players here, and then we brought in a couple of guys from Whitehorse (Yukon Territory), and of course we got our good shooters from here in town," said Phil Wheeler, tournament organizer and vice president of the Valley Dart League. "It's pretty interesting to see, the level of competition is pretty high."
Squires Rest underwent a temporary transformation for the tournament, as a major portion of the bar was rearranged to accommodate the space needed for the players and the portable dart boards used in the competition. During the three days of competition, individuals and teams played a variety of dart games including 501 and cricket.
"Five-oh-one is a game where you count straight down the board to zero and cricket is more of a strategy game, and then there's an event which is kind of a combination of the two games together," Wheeler said.
Matt Mahoney, a 2003 World Masters team member and current No. 1-ranked player in the state, said he flew down from Anchorage to help support the Juneau dart community and the first Southeast Shootout.
"When you have an inaugural tournament like this, the more people you get the better the chance that it will happen every year," said Mahoney, a former Juneau resident. "It might get bigger next year and the year after, which is the over all goal, to get more people participating."
Mahoney, who won the men's singles cricket on Saturday and the men's singles 501 on Sunday, said there is often a misperception about the sport of darts.
"A bunch of people think that it's just a bar game, but darts is a tough game," Mahoney said. "You have to be strong mentally to be good at darts. Getting over the nerves is the biggest part to being a good dart player. Most people can throw a dart, (and) have a decent stroke, which is also a big part of it, but the mental part is the biggest."
Shelly Kincaid of Juneau, who won the women's singles cricket on Saturday and the women's singles 501 on Sunday, agreed that darts is a demanding sport.
"Steel-tip darts is a skill, and it's like any sport, it requires a lot of practice," she said. "Regardless of what somebody may think about it, there's just as much skill that goes into a precise mark with darts as there does for baseball. You're trying to hit a home run, well you're trying to hit a specific target here as well. If you want to get good at it you've got to practice."
Kincaid said that she enjoys dart tournaments because of the competition and camaraderie.
"I love it because I get to socialize with my friends, and it feels good to win, it really does," she said. "And when we lose that's OK, too, because we're having fun. It's all about that."
Wheeler said Juneau's dart community has grown over the last several years, and hopes that it will continue to grow in the future.
"It's stepped up to the point where our players can play really well with some of the top named players around," Wheeler said.
"We're just trying to draw new people into playing," he said. "We have a bunch of players, but we'd always like to have more and a little more diverse people coming in playing."
Wheeler and Mahoney both said they were pleased with Squires Rest's dedication to helping the local dart community prosper.
"We put in six dart boards, which is more than anybody has, and it's the nicest shooting field too," said Troy Cunningham, Squires Rest co-owner. "Not only that, but we're also going to expand it to having more permanent boards that will actually flip down over the windows on hinges so that it will be easier for weekend tournaments."
Wheeler said dart competitions in Juneau would be nearly impossible without the support from local businesses.
"We have a whole lot of sponsors here who are really supportive of the players and the teams and all the tournaments we have," Wheeler said. "Without all those guys we would never get this thing off the ground and the leagues would never run through either. Without a lot of local businesses and support we would never be playing here at all."
Cunningham said the future of darts in Juneau is a bright one.
"It's the first ever (ADO) sanctioned event in Southeast, that's kind of cool," he said. "That was the first one and it went well, so we'll certainly be looking forward to doing it again. We'll try to get other tournaments out here too."
"Don't miss the next (tournament), even if you've never played darts before," Kincaid said. "We've got a really friendly steel-tip darts community here in town and come on out, we'll make you feel welcome."
• Eric Morrison can be reached at eric.morrison@juneauempire.com.
SOUTHEAST SHOOTOUT
Results from the inaugural Southeast Shootout darts tournament held Friday through Sunday at Squires Rest in Auke Bay. The event was sanctioned by the American Darts Organization, a first for Juneau.
Blind Draw Doubles 501 - 1. Sean Palmer (Anchorage) and Mike Smith (Juneau); 2. Declan McGovern (Whitehorse) and Matt Markovich (Juneau); 3. tie, Tim Sewill (Juneau) and Randy Quinto (Juneau); 3. tie, Lance Caldwell (Juneau) and Dean Fleer (Anchorage).
Lady's Doubles 501 - 1. Linda Rusaw (Juneau) and Sheali Dillon (Juneau); 2. Liza Paramore (Juneau) and Carol Gamez (Juneau); 3. Tessa Wheeler (Juneau) and Shelly Kincaid (Juneau).
Men's Cricket - 1. Matt Mahoney (Anchorage); 2. Jeff Olson (Kenai); 3. tie, Declan McGovern (Whitehorse); 3. tie, Sean Palmer (Anchorage).
Men's 501 - 1. Matt Mahoney (Anchorage); 2. Jeff Olson (Kenai); 3. tie, Tim Sewill (Juneau); 3. tie, Jim Hoff (Juneau).
Women's Cricket - 1. Shelly Kincaid (Juneau); 2. Linda Rusaw (Juneau); 3. tie, Tessa Wheeler (Juneau); 3. tie, Mary Frances Roberts (Juneau).
Women's 501 - 1. Shelly Kincaid (Juneau); 2. Mary Frances Roberts (Juneau); 3. tie, Linda Rusaw (Juneau); 3. tie, Laurel Garrison (Juneau).
Blind Doubles Windy City - 1. Phil Wheeler (Juneau) and Greg Morgan (Juneau); 2. Jim Hoff (Juneau) and Robert Stamm (Juneau); 3. tie, Dean Fleer (Anchorage) and Declan McGovern (Whitehorse, Yukon Territory); 3. tie, Shelly Kincaid (Juneau) and Sean Palmer (Anchorage).
9 marks - One: Jeff Olson (Kenai).
180s (perfect score in 501 of three triple-20s) - Three: Sean Palmer (Anchorage). Two: Jeff Olson (Kenai); Declan McGovern (Whitehorse, Yukon Territory). One: Doug Weeks (Whitehorse, Yukon Territory); Matt Mahoney (Anchorage).