There’s no place like home to take aim at a national championship.
It’s an honour bestowed on the Okotoks Elks Club No. 31 this week when they welcome the best throwers in the country to Olde Towne once again for the 2016 Elks National Darts Championships.
“That (2012 tournament) was our first one we hosted,” said Okotoks Elks spokesperson Sam Young. “And we won our national championship there. We’re hoping to do it again.
“The Town benefits because most everyone flies in and uses our hotels, restaurants. The Town has come aboard, they’re going to be providing souvenirs.”
Alberta will take on visiting teams from B.C., Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut
The club last hosted nationals in 2012 where home court advantage was apparent.
Team Alberta took home the overall title in Okotoks with local members Joel Turcotte, Richard Galicio and Priscilla Caines each earning team or individual medals.
Finding the same success away from its friendly confines has proved a challenge where Okotoks’ Elks and Alberta finished out of top spot at consecutive national tournaments in Prince Albert.
“We’re better on our own turf,” Young said. “We’re used to our own facility and have been practicing on our boards. It’s a game of chance.
“We’re in the top one or two ranking. B.C. is usually the one we have to beat, but we will beat them. We did it in Moose Jaw when we won the championship there in 2008.”
This go around the Okotoks Elks make up five of the 14-player strong Team Alberta, the rest from Edmonton, with Young, Roy Andreason, Bill Kozie, Pat Riehl and Tim Boutette lining up to hit the target for the Wild Rose province.
The tournament sees the competing provinces go toe-to-toe in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, men’s quads, mixed doubles and mixed quads.
The name of the game in each division is 501.
Each player or team starts with a score of 501 then the points are subtracted from the total of each turn of three darts per person. Should a competitor produce a score of 26 in the opening turn, their new total would be 475.
The game ends when a player doubles out making his total zero, which can be accomplished in two unique ways. First, should a player have 20 points remaining, a double out of two shots hitting 10 would end the game. Moreover, producing a score of 50, the coveted ‘bull’s-eye’ would also end the contest.
There is no cost to attend the four-day event as a spectator at the Okotoks Elks Club No. 31.
The competition starts at 10 a.m. on May 25 and runs into the evening at 6 p.m. The same schedule follows on May 26, 27. The championship Saturday will run until 2 p.m. with the awards banquet to follow.
For more information on the competition go to elks-canada.org
Dart facts
Diameter of dartboard - 18 inches Height of board from floor - five-feet, eight inchesDistance from bull's-eye - seven-feet, nine inches"Bacon and Eggs" - a score of 26. Not good. It is when, a player aims for triple 20 with all three of his or her darts. Instead they hit a single 20, and the neighbouring numbers 1 and 5.
