YORKTON - You’re never to old to excel at sport.
Take Jim Long from London, Ont. At age 56 Long, now retired secured a PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) Tour Card after coming through UK Qualifying School.
“I really didn’t expect to get my card knowing the quality of all the guys there (at the school),” Long told Yorkton This Week. “It was a bit of a surprise.”
The coveted tour card opens the door for Long to compete at the highest level of darts for at least the next two years – he must earn enough money over that time to be in the top 64 or the world’s best 128 to maintain his tour spot.
That will mean a lot of time outside Canada.
In fact he said that as soon as he earned the card his focus shifted “to making travel plans.”
Long said he has travelled to Britain often in recent years to compete in various events, but now with a spot on the tour “I’ll go every month February to October . . . Sometimes for a month at a time.”
For example his first event is upcoming in northern Britain in early February and the next week it’s a jaunt over to Europe to play another event in the Netherlands.
“And all the while it’s finding hotels and where to stay between events,” he added.
While there is a lot of pressures and distractions away from the dart boards themselves, Long said he is at least fortunate he isn’t relying on the sport for his income.
“It just happens to be my hobby,” he said.
But, it is a hobby he has long been passionate about, having been initially introduced to the sport years ago.
“It was right after I got out of high school,” he said, adding that was some 36years ago.
Long was working in a small town and went to a bar after work one day and “everybody was playing darts.” They needed one more player to even teams and he was that player.
“I just fell in love with it,” he said. “. . . It’s the best game in the world.”
That seems like a rather bold statement, but Long backs it up with some solid reasoning.
To start he points out there is “no defence” in darts. “It’s entirely offence. The only way you can win is to beat the other guy.” Long said it comes down to having to play your best and hope that effort is better than what the opponent does in the game.
Long also added there is even a referee in darts to blame for a loss.
“Darts is just very cut and dried,” he said.
It’s a sport you can play and practice at home too to improve skills. Long said even through COVID players were competing with webcams on home boards and playing opponents virtually.
“You can just hang out in your basement and play people from anywhere in the world,” he said.
And while the recently crowned World Champion; Luke Littler was only 17 when he won, darts are for all ages as Long proves.
When athletes age they can’t always continue to perform at high levels in many sports, said Long, adding darts is different.
“Darts is a great way to compete and still challenge yourself,” he said.
When all that is considered Long said he simply sees darts as “the most challenging game you can play.”
While darts in North America aren’t widely recognized as a high level sport, Long now moves into the professional world in Europe where darts hold a much higher profile.
“It’s a very, very different world over there,” he said, of a sport which can attract thousands of fans.
Even if one stops at a local pub the darts will be good.
“Everyone has good skills. They throw the darts the right way,” said Long.
It is also the world Long has long dreamed of.
“Just to play darts and competing in England is all I wanted to do,” he said.
Now Long becomes only the second Canadian on the tour – the other is New Brunswick’s Jeff Smith. Long said it will be challenging, but the people will make it worth while.
“The people involved in the game are fantastic – friendly – accepting,” he said, adding his biggest hurdle, or at least first one, will to not just be in awe of many opponents.
“I’m a darts fan, so it’s going to be a little hard for me to keep it together,” he said.
