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I wandered into the restaurant/bar at the hotel in Summerside, Prince Edward
Island, to see if there was anybody around whom I could join for supper. A group from Quebec was there and asked me to join them. I knew  everybody
in the group with the exception of one young gentleman. “Kip,” they said, “we’d like to introduce Jerry Hull to you. The son of Ron Hull, but believe
us, he is not a bit like his father.” The name Ron Hull was familiar to me, but it was only after asking a few questions that I was advised that he
was the Quebec Champion in 1988 and attended the National Championships in Moncton, NB.
I had a little chat with Jerry and found out that he
is 21 years old, is not married and is an automotive technician by trade. Thankfully, his employer is very supportive of time that he
requires to take in order to attend tournaments and this might be a blessing down the road a little. He is a very quiet spoken young man but don’t let
that fool you when you meet him on the dartboard.
He has a love of seafood, so I imagine he was able to take advantage of our
location and eat many varieties of seafood while in Summerside. I was obviously talking to a very young person who advised me that his favorite
male and female actors are Chris Walker and Liv Tyler. (I must really be getting old, as I have never heard of these people before.) His favorite TV
shows are that 70’s Show and the Sopranos. I also learned that when not pounding on the dartboard he enjoys participating in Soccer, Hockey and Golf
. I would say that he is a pretty well rounded athlete.
Apparently this young gentleman started playing darts when he was around
eight years old. The only way in which he could play was to mark the board for his Dad. This taught him a lot about the game and was also very good for
his counting later on. Although Jerry has heard about the youth program in Quebec, he was never able to participate as he lives in a smaller area away
from the big city where the youth darts are offered. I can’t help but think of the advantages that would be his if he had been able to participate as a youth player.
He throws a 22 gram hammerhead and he tries to put in at least one hour a
day practicing. He adds a little more to his practice time just prior to a big tournament.
Jerry started playing darts at the provincial level about four years ago and has
been a member of Team Quebec for the past couple of years (2003 and 2004). His dream at the present time is to become the Canadian Champion and to
represent Canada at some international events. If he keeps practicing and improving, I really do think that we will hear a lot of Jerry Hull in the future.
He, being so young, I was a little embarrassed about asking him if he had
any advice for the youth in Canada, however, with only such a small age difference he can probably relate to our young players quite well. He wants
to impress upon the youth players that they shouldn’t get discouraged when they lose. No matter how hard the losses are to take, it is still only a game
and with continued practice it will eventually pay off.
As usual, I asked Jerry whether, with the means that are available at this
time, whether there is something more that could be done in Canada to improve the level of darts. Jerry didn’t know how it could be done but he felt
that there is a need to make more people aware of the sport of darts and entice new players. Somehow we have to show them that this is a great
game and lots of fun to play.
To summarize, Jerry did get one step closer to his dream as he was runner
-up to John Part in the 2004 Canadian Open. He played a fabulous semi-final against Guy Tremblay from Quebec and has nothing to be ashamed of with
the performance that he gave on stage against John.
This is a very interesting young man and one that I am sure we are going to
hear lots about in the future.
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