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I wasn’t supposed to be at the 2003 National Championships as I wasn’t a member of the NDFC
Executive any longer.
However, circumstances put me at the Nationals and I’m sure glad I didn’t miss them. Not only did Manitoba lay claim to the No. 1 ranked player (Gerry Convery) but a local Manitoba boy became Canadian Champion. Let’s see what Rory Orvis has to say for himself.
Hello Rory, although it has now been several months since your great achievement, I want
to thank you for giving me a little of your time so that myself and our readers can learn a little more about you. First, what do you do for a living?
 I work at the Nueltin Fly-in Lodge as a guide for the many
fishermen who fly north. For those who are interested you can receive a fishing experience of a lifetime at Nueltin Lake.
However, this is a seasonal job so I am currently unemployed.
Seasonal work, which I am assuming, is during the summer.
With that in mind, is your employer supportive of the time you may have to take off for darts?
They have always been very supportive of me for the time off required to attend the National
Championships and more recently the World Championships. They were one of my biggest supporters, and at this time, I would like to give a big Thank
You to Shawn Gurke and his family.
Are you married and if so, do you have any children?
Yes, I am married and my wife Sandra and I have a 19 month-old son,
Campbell, and we are expecting another child at the beginning of March. I also have a five-year old daughter, Kayla.
Is your wife supportive of the time you spend away at tournaments?
She is very supportive, and as she comes from a family of ‘darters’ and
understands the need to be away on occasion. However, having said that, I am finding it a little harder to get out to play darts now with a young family.
What is your favorite food, and if you get time to watch television, what is
your favorite show?
I like pizza and French toast and really enjoy watching Home Improvement.
Do you have any other pastimes or hobbies that you enjoy when you are not
practicing or playing darts?
Fishing and hunting and I also enjoy boating and skidooing.
I see that Rory enjoys the outdoors when not playing darts! When and where
did you first start playing darts and who got you involved?
I started playing darts with my parents in the House League at West
Kildonan Legion Branch #30. The first year I signed up to play as a spare
just to see what it was like, but I didn’t even play once that year. However, I have been hooked on the game ever since.
How many years have you been involved with darts both at the Provincial and
National levels?
I joined the Manitoba Darts Association in the 1996-97 season, tried out for
the team and was successful.
How many years have you been a member of Team Manitoba?
Since 1997, which makes it, seven times. I have been Provincial Champion
four times and twice runner-up. I didn’t attend the Nationals in 2000 and 2002 because of personal reasons.
Like all competitive dart players I am sure you had a goal that you wanted to
achieve. In the light of what you achieved in 2003, do you still have something that you would like to add to your resume?
This is a question that I have been giving serious thought to since last June.
Once I had become Canadian Champion and traveled to England as a member of Team Canada to participate in an international event, my list was
complete. I really thought hard about darts and what I wanted to do. Do I
find something else or should I make a new list of goals? I gave this matter serious thought, and once I came home from the World Masters, I had
almost made up my mind to try something else. However, after my recent experience at the Ladbrooke.com World Professional Championships, this
has given me a new jolt, and I realize that I have some more space to fill on my resume. So, yes, I will be around for a while.
How much time do you spend practicing during the regular season ?
Since 2001, I haven’t really practiced as much or as long as I should. I just
took my chances. I’ve put at least an hour a day from last November to the present, but I don’t always get the time to practice. My son pulls me to the
board sometimes because he wants to see me throw darts. It’s funny because he’s only 19 months old, but he loves darts and just watches every
move I make. I do still enjoy practicing when it is just me, the board and the radio.
Do you play in any leagues and do you participate in tournaments?
Because I now live in rural Manitoba, at the present time, I don’t play in any
leagues. I play on Sunday night at the Kinosota Dart Club. There are a few tournaments coming up that I would like to attend.
Are you interested in any other sports?
I am really quite sports minded and I like hockey, track and field, tennis, golf
and volleyball.
As you know Rory, I have been around darts in Manitoba ‘forever’ and yet I
don’t remember seeing you playing as one of our youth members. Were you ever a member of the Manitoba youth program?
No, unfortunately I didn’t know anything about the youth program until I had
outgrown it. Consequently, I didn’t have an opportunity to play at that level.
When I think about this, I realize just how much I missed out on because of not participating as a youth player. A lot of friends that I play with now
played at the youth level, and with the stories they have told, it sounds as though it was a lot of fun and a great experience. I believe that a good friend
of mine and myself are the players that we are today because we had the opportunity, when we started, to learn from the young players who had gone
through the youth program. Although we missed out on the youth program, indirectly, we have received some benefit because of it.
Obviously Manitoba needs to do a little more advertising about our youth
program. There may be many other future Canadian champions out there who should be participating in our youth program. Anyway, because of your
recent achievements, do you have any words of encouragement that you would like to give to the young players?
They should enjoy the experience of participating in the youth program
because one day they might be able to give something back to the youth. Never give up in a match until the last double has been hit. Learning how to
lose graciously is learning how to win in darts. Remember, sportsmanship is a big thing in everybody’s books.
I know that you have been a member of Team Canada. What events have
you participated in on behalf of our country?
Well, most recently, I represented Canada at the 2004 ladbrokes.com World
Professional Championships. I also attended the 2003 Winmau World Masters/Embassy Qualifier and have been a two-time member of the Golden
Harvest Pro-Am team ‘Canada vs. Britain.’ The one thing I haven’t achieved and really want to is to be on a World Cup Team. I have been close on a
couple of occasions, however, as we all know, close only counts in horseshoes. I guess this is an item that should be added to my ‘to do’ list.
What were your feelings when you became the Canadian Champion in June 2003?
I was shocked, absolutely shocked. It was something that I didn’t really
expect and certainly wasn’t expecting it when I was down 4-1 in the final. However, I didn’t give up and I had fun on the stage and the crowd was
awesome, especially those folks from Manitoba. I don’t think it really hit me until I was back in the room after the banquet and my roommates (Cory,
Craig and Scott wanted to play Frisbee with the trophy. It then hit home, I had won the Canadian Championship. Actually, I thought I had a better
chance of winning the Men’s Doubles with my partner Gerry (Convery). We won that event in 2001, didn’t have an opportunity to defend in 2002, but
thought we had a good shot in 2003.
As a first time participant in international play, is there anything that I have
missed that you feel might be of interest to our readers?
The only thing I really want to say is that you must believe in yourself. You
can play darts anywhere. Don’t play the person, play the board and with a little luck on your side it could be your day of victory.
Do you think, with the means that we have available, that there is something
that could be done in Canada to improve the level of darts?
I think the level of darts is getting better all the time. We got to build it up
with the Golden Harvest being the engine figure. We could use more events of this nature across Canada. The more people that we can get involved
means growth and this would mean a better level of darts.
I certainly appreciate the time that you have given to me and I hope you will
enjoy reading the article in Bull’s-Eye News. Is there anything that you would like to say before I close this out?
There are a lot of people from whom I’ve learned something from which has
led to my success. Unfortunately, there are too many to mention individually. I would just like to say “Thank You” to my family and friends who have had a
hand in my success.
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