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$425,000 And Still Growing
What a rich history the National Dart Association (NDA) has with their TEAM DART
tournament. Beginning in 1986 in Chicago, IL, TEAM DART I had a total purse of $25,000, a very large sum for their first National Championship in those days.
TEAM DART II stayed in Chicago the second year and the purse grew a modest $2,000 to
$27,000. But the attendance out grew the facility, and in 1988, TEAM DART III was moved to Geneva, WI, with a healthy jump in prize money to
$36,000. At that event in 1988 in Geneva, WI, and even with a larger and beautiful facility, the attendance overwhelmed the staff, but what a great job they did and what a great tournament.
The NDA realized that a new home for their TEAM DART tournament needed to be found that
had room for growth. They found that home in 1989 here in Las Vegas, NV, where the tournament has been held every year since. It’s interesting to see the
growth of the prize money from year to year. Such growth, even during the tough years, represents a strong organization that
services it’s members. Dawn Orloff and Mike Gannon are the only NDA staff members who have attended all 19 TEAM DART tournaments.
1986 TEAM DART I $25,000
1987 TEAM DART II $27,000
1988 TEAM DART III $36,000
1989 TEAM DART IV $43,000
1990 TEAM DART V $53,000
1991 TEAM DART VI $68,000
1992 TEAM DART VII $100,000
1993 TEAM DART VIII $112,000
1994 TEAM DART VIX $131,000
1995 TEAM DART X $160,000
1996 TEAM DART XI $170,000
1997 TEAM DART XII $200,000
1998 TEAM DART XIII $250,000
1999 TEAM DART XIV $250,000
2000 TEAM DART XV $250,000
2001 TEAM DART XVI $350,000
2002 TEAM DART XVII $350,000
2003 TEAM DART XVIII $400,000
2004 TEAM DART XIX $425,000
We had the chance to speak with Leslie Murphy, the Executive Director of the NDA for
the past 7 years, and asked her the 64 million dollar question. Can this tournament continue to grow?
“Yes, absolutely,” Murphy said. “We are up 20% from last year right now. We
feel that the addition of new and different events provides more opportunity and more interest from players that might like to attend. We continue to support and encourage our league operators to include TEAM DART into their league schedules. That's one reason we have so many skill levels at the National Championship. We try to provide all players with the opportunity to look forward to and compete in an International Championship at a skill level they feel confident in.”
“To accommodate our growth, we have secured more space for 2006. This allows us to have
room for more boards, and we can add events and have more people playing at the same time, increasing the efficiency of the tournament. It will
also provide us with some flexibility with our schedule of events.”
The key to the success of the NDA and Team Dart is their organization and being
prepared. That means service to their members, including manufactures, league operators and the players. And judging by the flawless kick off of Team
Dart XIX with the special Draw Doubles events, this year was be no exception, adding yet another exciting and successful event to the rich history of the NDA.
And Then There Were Darts
How it all got started...
History records that in 1532, Anne Boleyn gave Henry VIII a set of beautifully
ornamented darts. What kind? Nobody knows, but some kind of darts seemed to have been always used in warfare. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that any resemblance of a game emerged when the arrows of Englishmen’s long bows were used in a sport referred to as Butts.1
Wine butts were used as the targets and the first targets only had concentric rings,
much like archery. The English weather, being as it is, led the players to shorten the arrows and bring the game indoors and use the bottom of
wine casks or sawed off logs as their targets. As the slices of logs dried, natural cracks formed to introduce the wedges or segments to the game. The question of how the diabolical numbering scheme was developed has been a frequent question over the years. When the logs split, and someone added the numbers, a game of superior richness developed, and the resulting clock-faced board has undoubtedly made of a more varied and interesting game. However, the origin of the numbering scheme has been lost throw history.
Today, the game has entered the electronic world with the most sophisticated dart
machines ever created. Arachnid, Valley/Lowen, and Medalist are three of the largest manufacturers and distributors of the electronic pub darts games on the planet. These are the games used at Team Dart XIX, where the action is just as challenging as the game was back in the Middle Ages when it was called arrers, or arrows... and 3,800 players can’t be wrong
1. The Book of Darts, Jack McClintock, copyright 1977.
The Schedule
Nine full days of dart competitions is a gruelling schedule for some, but for most of the NDA
players at Team Dart XIX, it was heaven with the opportunity to win a World Championship in their level of play. After the Friday evening special
Draw Doubles events, Saturday began the...
Continued...
This initial installment of our massive two-part coverage of this
year’s grand NDA Team Dart XIX event, including dozens of player photos and detailed event results can be found on pages 46 – 53 of the July/August 2004 print
edition.
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