I am from Northern Virginia, born in Los Angeles CA. Moved to Virginia when I was little with my family.

Some good friends played in a local dart league and I joined their team in the early 90’s. I enjoyed the friendly competition and started to play a few local tournaments.

When I started I threw 25gm Power Point darts. Gradually, I lowered the gram weight and eventually about 10 years ago, a friend of mine who makes dart sets, made me a customized barrel and I still throw with these today. They are 17.8 grams slightly front loaded, Dynastar kite flights.

Within a year or so, I played a few local tournaments in Va and MD. I found that I experienced some success and made a bit of cash. I then played more often such as Friday night luck of the draws at local bars and started to play a few tournaments outside of the immediate area. As success started to become more frequent, I began to play the local qualifiers that help you to advance to the Regionals and they in turn lead to National playoffs. As I started to win the regional events, I had a few free trips to the National tournaments courtesy of the ADO and experienced success there as well. The first year that I actually played on the tournament circuit I achieved the national ranking #12. This encouraged me to continue to play more tournaments and try to achieve a higher ranking. This in fact did improve through the years and I made the National Team a number of times. My highest ranking nationally was #2.

Since I was not sponsored, I had to bear all expenses out of pocket. I have worked full time since I was 16 and do continue to work a full time job to this day.

I had always wanted to become a teacher since I was young. I was impressed by the efforts and dedication of my teachers and I love working with people. I completed my Bachelor of Science Degree at the University of Maryland, College Park. I received my teacher certification upon graduation. I applied to various locales along the eastern seaboard but unfortunately there was more supply than the demand. However, I was able to continue coach high school swimming and soccer and participated in a variety of competitive sports, such as swimming, soccer, racquetball, tennis, and of course darts. The desire for competition has always been there and darts offered an intriguing experience.

I play steel tip darts, I did try soft tip for a few tournaments and was extremely successful, but I didn’t find it as challenging as steel tip. I also did not like what I feel are pointless rules. So I stick with steel.

I wouldn’t say that electronic darts are not “real darts”. They are just a different version to the original game. However, I think the game is money driven and that they do not require as much skill as steel. Also the rules do not require as much thought and strategy as steel. Ex. Points count even if the dart bounces out, in ’01 shoot the bull as it has a value of 50 points no matter if you hit the green or red. No games with double in, this “freeze out” rule makes no sense to me. However, if you want to win money, its there to win and there is more of it than in the US steel tip tournaments. This is because you pay to play each leg of a match.

I have played a lot of tournaments, levels of league (I only play top division now and have for a lot of years, it gives me the most challenge), and in the past I would shoot LOD’s every Friday and Saturday. For the last 10 years I don’t play LOD’s much, I don’t find that they help my game very much. So I meet with my friends and shoot for 2-3 hours straight instead, this is better for me. I have played in two leagues in my career, TDI (Tournament Darts International- in Washington DC), and WADA (Washington Area Dart Association-covers Va, Md, DC). TDI has now closed down. We have a very large league with a lot of good players, both tournament players and good local people. There are also 4 levels of divisions of play so that those with different skills can have the opportunity to play. I have always enjoyed playing league and meeting all the different people and challenging myself to get better. Since I started playing in 1994, I have traveled to a great many places around the country as well as competing in the BDO Winmau Masters 3 times. The level of competition here in the US is very good. I have met a lot of different players both in the US and around the world. This has helped my game immensely and I have learned a lot, and I am still learning today.

My most joyful moments? I have had a lot of them, obviously winning events. Making the National team and going to England for the Masters was terrific. I have been very privileged to have been able to travel as I have and I enjoy the traveling. Do I have any favorite tournaments? No really, however, I love playing in Florida as I have a lot of good friends that live down there and we have a really fun time.

In the years when I pretty much traveled full time, I played about 20-30 tournaments a year. Right now I am looking to play around 30+ for 2008.

My favorite tournament event would be the singles, I enjoy the one-on-one competition to see if I can win. I prefer not to be dependent on another player for results, although I do like doubles too.

I usually fly out on Friday afternoon and arrive Friday night at my destination. I am usually at the hotel in time to get a good nights sleep prior to the start of the regular events. I usually don’t play the LODs that are on a Friday night. I am so used to doing this type of schedule that I find I sleep just fine. I usually don’t go out and party late, once the events are concluded for the day, I get some dinner and go to my room to rest. I look at it that I am here for a purpose and to achieve certain goals. I can’t do that if I stay out late and am not prepared both physically and mentally for the next contest.

Yes, I do get nervous at times, I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing. If you don’t have some anticipation then you don’t have an edge. It’s how you channel that nervous energy or anticipation, anxiety etc. If it is channeled in a positive way then it’s a good thing. So I try to remain calm but focused. I try to focus on beating the board. The board is my opponent. Each dart, each game is a process. If you focus on the process and being successful at each step the end result will take care of itself. I have learned by talking to the best players to see how they handle the pressure. And there is pressure, everyone feels it, it’s the best players that know how to deal with the pressure. The more you play in a competitive environment, the better you become at handling it.

Who are my greatest opponents? This can be anyone on a given day, I believe that anyone can win on a given day. Your consistency at performing well is determined in part by skill, but for the most part “you get out of something what you put into it”. The best players in the world have to practice and they do. So I guess that I don’t have a greatest opponent. The toughest opponents are those that can keep it mentally together and can be me at my best.

Are female and male darters treated equally? When you say “treated” what do you mean? Do I think that the skill level of men exceeds women’s? Yes, however, this game is not dictated by physical ability such as strength, endurance, speed etc. This is purely a mental game requiring hand/eye coordination. There should be no gender difference capability, but results I think dictate differently. If you played the top 10 women in the world against the top 10 men in the world, I think we could pretty closely guess what the results would be. I believe that in some countries the women’s game is not looked on as favorably or treated the same as the men’s game. This can be seen by the lack of TV coverage, lack of female participation in international events. But there are a lot of reasons why this happens that are understandable. I do believe that women in the US are looked upon with respect for the most part by the male US dart players.

I have been and still am very fortunate as a dart player, I have had some amazing experiences that have made me grow as a player. In 1996 I was asked to participate in a dart exhibition with top US players in Bermuda. We were guests with all expenses paid by the Bermuda National Team. We were there for a week and we met some amazing people who have become my great friends. I was able to be a member of the US National Team and this allowed me to be recognized by other great players. I traveled overseas to England to play in the Winmau Masters. That was a real eye-opener.

I think one of the most amazing experiences I had was when I first started traveling outside of my area. I had won a trip to Las Vegas in 1996 to participate in the Nationals there. After playing triples against a British team, I was approached by one of the English player’s and asked if I had a regular partner for mixed doubles. Since I had just started traveling I said no, and he asked if I would like to shoot tournaments with him when he came to the US. I didn’t even know who he was or his name at the time, but he was an excellent player so I said “yes of course”. We exchanged contact information and the rest as they say is history. That player back in 1996 was Phil Taylor. We shot every tournament together when he came to the US for back then the Witch City Open, Windy City, North American Open. The Brits would travel to the US for the big money tournaments and that was about 3-4 a year. So for about 5 years or so, we shot together for mixed doubles and I played with him and his partners in Mixed Triples as well. I also have a good friendship with Dennis Priestley and he shot with Phil for a lot of years for men’s doubles, so naturally I shot with the 2 of them for those tournaments. Eventually the tournaments overseas took precedence and were big money that they stopped traveling here. The structure of the PDC came around and they didn’t need to travel all that distance for less purse money. Today I still keep in contact and see them from time to time. I consider them good friends and have learned a lot. Needless to say, in all those years we played the mixed doubles and triples we only lost one time. Not too shabby...

Our league format is 2 matches of doubles (1 501, 1 cricket), 4 singles matches (1 cricket, 1 501, 2 cork calls), 2 matches of doubles (same) and 4 singles matches (same), 1 team game of 701.

I currently play on 1 team this season and we play 1 night a week.I usually play on 2 teams twice a week. I meet my teammates occasionally during the week and we practice at our home bar. I do like to shoot at our home bar, Mighty Mikes Restaurant & Grill. He has quite a few teams that shoot out of his bar. On a usual night he permanently has 8 boards operating on one side of the restaurant, however, he has another 8 boards on the opposite side in case there are more than 4 teams playing that night. His location is setup to hold our regional shoots and he can have a max capacity of about 20 or so boards mounted on the walls. The food is okay and they have specials on beer, so the environment is open, clean and spacious for players and spectators. Channel 9 did a segment for their evening news at the bar, interviewed our league president, the bar owner and myself. That segment ran for a few nights on the news so that was pretty cool.

I practice during the week at various times, sometimes at home, sometimes at my home bar. Usually I meet my team about an hour or more before the match and we play before match time. Practicing at home only works up to a point, I like to play against other players. I practice doubles, out shots in 3 darts starting with 61, and other strategy games.

I try to keep the same routine when I am preparing for competition. I get to the tournament hall about an hour before the first event each day to warm up in the hall. I will sometimes practice in between matches depending on how much wait time there is. I have a dart board at home with overhead lighting.

My best moments in darts have been realizing that I have the ability to win the big tournaments.

I consider darts a sport. It has come a long way to become recognized as a serious competitive sport. You can see this is the greater numbers of player, organizations, tournaments, overseas competitions, money invested, TV coverage, and other aspects. It is no longer just played recreationally in pubs and bars, there is serious money and skill level of players. The sport is played in a lot of different countries world wide and there are players that do this for a living.

What needs to be done in the US to promote darts? Good question. One sport can continue in the environment it is in, but if you want to have the attention and attract viewers/spectators the mindset has to be changed. Darts in the UK and other countries is looked at as a major sport. Probably only second to soccer and cricket. In America, it is not, it is still considered generally to be a pub activity. Football, basketball, baseball are America’s sport. I also believe that Americans like to watch activity that has a lot of movement, goals scored, hitting opponents, base running and such. I think it is difficult for those that don’t value the game or see it the same way as the participants have a hard time watching and understanding (although the rules are simple), a match that shows people standing still throwing a small object at a fixed target. I think those that don’t have an interest get bored. As we all know sports succeed with sponsors and televised events. Look at golf, tennis, football etc. However, there are a lot of tournaments that I would hesitate to say should be televised. The type of attire worn, the drunk players, poor behavior is not representative of how we would want our darts to be shown on television. We have to certainly entice sponsors but do it in a way that is a positive reflection on the sport, not a negative one.

There is some youth participation around the country but not enough. We need to consider how to entice young players to this sport as I believe that there are not enough young US players. I very much believe that any activity that promotes the mental and physical positives in sport should be promoted. I think that there are other avenues to entice youth to participate and we are not doing enough.

I think what the PDC has done is amazing. Of course, keep in mind that the interest in darts is already big in the UK. They just add on to that, but they know how to run a business and this has shown in their expansion of dart tournaments with big money all over the world. I think the BDO is on the way out, so many players are switching to the PDC where the competition, exposure and money is at. Americans are recognizing this too. The one thing they have not done is figuring out how to attract the female dart players. I support their efforts and what they have done so far is quite excellent.

I try to behave professionally in and around darts. I dress appropriately; I don’t act or carry on in a way that would reflect poorly on me or the sport. I show good sportsmanship when I win or lose and I try to keep a positive mind set.

What makes up good sportsmanship? If you truly love the sport and respect others, then your attitude will show that…you have to be a good loser before you can be a good winner. Respectful of opponents both at the line and off, congratulate the winner if you have lost the match. Don’t make excuses, accept the outcome graciously no matter what. Anyone can win or lose on a given day. Refer to the sport with respect, above all respect yourself. Act as if you would like to see others act in public. People remember those individuals who carry themselves well and show they care for the sport.

I handle defeat with care, show your opponent that they did well and wish them luck in their next match. Even if you are extremely unhappy, don’t advertise this loudly or dismiss your opponents efforts in front of others. You can have your own personal opinions, but remember that what you do in public is in public! Get to your match on time, follow the rules, don’t do a lot of physical demonstrations such as slamming your fist in walls, throwing your darts, cussing, talk excessively at the line to bother your opponent, things like this...

I try to handle defeat graciously, obviously I am not happy with myself but you can’t win them all and I am grateful for my successes. I learn a lot from a loss and try to be better the next time. The best players in the world don’t win every time. Turn defeat around and get better the next time. Anyone who is truly of a competitive spirit doesn’t like to lose but how you lose and what you do with it is important.

I see myself continuing to play, and to set goals for myself to play other tournaments and maybe travel overseas for some experience. I have been involved in the tournament circuit on and off for years. I see darts as part of my life, not my whole life. I would like to do better here at home in our tournaments but also see what I can do overseas in maybe some of the PDC events.

My highest out was a 160. No back to back 180’s, not a perfect 9 darter yet!

Who do I admire? I admire Phil Taylor, and Dennis Priestley for their successes and for how they approach the game. They are both gentlemen and good sportsman. I admire that immensely.

Who I would like to meet? I have met most of the top dart players over the years.

Who do I admire in this world other than dart players? I don’t have any specific individuals, but I admire those people that give back to this world without expecting anything in return. They give out of the generosity of their hearts, what they give may be personal time, could be money, disaster relief, counseling, big brother and big sisters, animal welfare…as there are others. The college kids that spent their spring break in New Orleans helping to rebuild the city and help the people. Things like this impress me.

Yes, I have traveled to Chicago quite a few times over the years for the Windy City Open. The first time I met and played with Dennis Priestley was the Windy City Open many years ago.

I have traveled to Bermuda for our exhibitions, England for the Winmau Masters, Canada for a few Canadian tournaments.

Yes, this year was the first year I was sponsored by a local consulting group. They are developing a dart product that is computerized. It is called Ochewars. They knew me through my dart league and were intrigued. They said they would like to sponsor me on a year to year basis, so of course I said yes. They fund all dart related expenses including clothing and equipment, travel, hotel, etc.

My close friends are very supportive, my CEO and my bosses at work are also very encouraging and interested.

For dart players just starting out, I would say to just enjoy yourself, learn the game, watch and ask the good players for tips, soak up the environment. Don’t push too hard, take it slow until you get the routine under your belt. It can be very taxing to play a lot of matches over 2-2 ½ days. You need to get used to the grind. Practice, practice, practice….you get out of it what you put into it.

Yes I subscribe to Bulls Eye News. It is a very informative publication and I was very fortunate to get an article and a front cover in January 1996. I look at various other dart websites such as the PDC site, Phil’s site and Dennis’s site.

Don’t know about me? Hmmm, I used to race my car in autocross and I love to work on my car. I also love to do art work in my spare time (which I don’t have much of), such as pencil, charcoal and oil paint. I love the ocean and my favorite recreational sport is swimming. I did that since I was little. When I don’t play darts, I like to get outside when the weather permits and I love to travel. In the winter I go skiing, and in the summer to the beach. I am a sun worshipper and I travel to Bermuda about 2 times a year to see my best friends.

From the Editor: Be sure to listen for Nancy Huntoon's name at tournaments so you can watch her compete up close and personal at the line. My thanks to Nancy Huntoon for the opportunity to learn more about her, including her perspective regarding the world of competitive darts...