A septuagenarian is making his point in retirement.
Bob Powell led the Okotoks Elks Club as it secured four of the eight spots on Team Alberta for the national championships in Penticton, B.C. May 21-26.
Powell, 71, was the top man at the Elks Alberta Championships in Brooks last month winning six of the seven best of three matches he played in finishing first among Alberta male Elks.
“I got a dartboard for my 10th birthday when I was in Wales — you’d think I would be better than I am wouldn’t you,” Powell said with a grin during Darts Night at the Okotoks Elks Club on April 16.
Powell moved to Okotoks in 1998 after working in Fort McMurray.
“Darts is really popular in Fort McMurray,” Powell said. “I played in the men’s premier division up there… We had players from England, Wales but most of them were from Newfoundland.”
However, it wasn’t until January that he started to throw darts for the Okotoks club.
“I used to come down to play crib and I saw these guys playing darts and they seemed to be nice guys,” he said.
The tournament dart game is either 301 or 501. Each player and his opponent start with either 301 or 501. They whittle the score down by subtracting the value of each dart. The game ends when a player gets to zero by doubling out. For example, if a player has a total of 32 remaining, he can end the game with a double 16.
Having 32 left aiming for double 16 is his favourite way to end things.
“Most of us have favourite doubles and mine is double 16 because if you miss it, you can go for double eight, and if you miss that you can go for double four – all the way until you get to double ones,” he said.
Okotoks’ Roy Andreason was second in Brooks, winning four of his six matches — one of them to his pal Powell. He is the lone returning local Elks member for Team Alberta which won the overall national championship in Okotoks last year.
“I think we will be at least as strong as we were last year,” Andreason said. “We have some good shots still. The guys we have replacing the other guys are just as strong as they were last year.”
Andreason honed his skills by competing in a major tournament in The Twin Cities where he finished in the top eight in singles.
“I went down to Dart Mania in Minneapolis with some buddies from Thunder Bay,” Andreason said. “There were 150 players there.”
Hanging out with friends is the best part of darts.
“I just like the camaraderie of it,” Andreason said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
He will have fun in Penticton, but make no mistake; he would love to defend Alberta’s title.
“My own personal goal is to finish in the top four in men’s singles,” said Andreason, who will be attending his third national championship. “There is one guy from Nunavut who I have a lot of trouble.”
Andreason’s favourite double is going out at 20 points.
“I find if I can get to 20, I can hit that double 10,” he said.
The other members from the Okotoks club to qualify for the eight-man Team Alberta are Tim Boutette and Sam Young. Young isn’t able to go due to a family commitment.
