its 50 or 60 volunteers can only
focus their efforts on one event at
a time.
The future is heavily reliant on
these volunteers and recruitment
efforts will continue. Erki Selling’s
role as president is one that takes
a huge amount of his time and can
ultimately be hugely frustrating.
The lack of public interest means
it isn’t a profitable venture for
Estonian businesses to invest time
or money in. This in turn makes
it very difficult to bring darts to
the masses through the supply of
equipment and the sponsorship
of events, therefore making it
very difficult generate awareness
and interest. This repetitive
circle of events looks set to be
the foreseeable future of darts
in Estonia but Erki remains
determined to do what he can:
“We need to change the attitude
towards darts and use the people
power we have to push it forward
ourselves. I’m hoping to utilise
one of the local shopping centres
to set up some boards and give
people the chance to have a go.
The support system is very small
but this could be a good way to
get more people involved.”
With Erki at the helm, darts is
certainly in capable hands. Most
of the arrows thrown in Estonia
are done so in Tallinn but the
recent introduction of new clubs
in a few other towns across the
country is a hugely positive sign.
On a national level, some local
success at the upcoming Estonian
Open would be the first big step
towards darts gaining some wider
attention. “Latvian Madars Razma
is performing well at the moment
and he is creating some positivity
in the Baltics as a whole. We hope
that he can go on to be successful”
says Erki. The interdependency
of funding and high interest will
continue to be a problem as both
are hugely lacking in the Baltic’s
most northerly country. Whilst
the current group of players have
the desire and passion to keep
the darts circuit active and the
opportunities growing, it might be
a while before we see an Estonian
on the big stage in the BDO or PDC
World Championships.
For more information about darts
in Estonia, visit www.darts.ee or
join the ‘Darts Estonia’ group on
Facebook.
Chris Johns