Focus Juan Davids is a picture of concentration at last week's Dartboard Maths and International Darts School League launch, at Portland High.
Image: Emily Norris
Tallying up the score on the dartboard while brushing up your arithmetic skills, is a match made in heaven, said Portland professional darts player, Devon Petersen, following last week’s launch of his International Darts Schools League (IDSL), at Portland High.
Ten schools from across the city attended the launch of the league, which aims to encourage youngsters to have a go at the game and have fun cracking their school books.
Petersen, an advocate for grassroots development in darts, has made a name for himself as South Africa’s foremost ambassador of the game, locally and abroad, and operates independently from Darts SA, which has also been pushing a similar programme in schools.
He said he IDSL aims to roll out in multiple schools across South Africa, with Mitchell's Plain serving as a pioneering location.
The league will feature regular inter-school competitions, coaching programmes, and pathways for talented players to progress to higher levels of competition, including potential national and international exposure.
The launch event featured exhibition matches, hands-on coaching sessions, and an interactive demonstration of how Dartboard Maths — a key educational component of the IDSL — integrates sport and academics. Petersen himself took to the oche, inspiring young players with his precision and passion for the game.
“Designing the platform for the professional standard of darts coaching has always been my vision as part of an opportunity to change learners' career paths and sporting ability,” Petersen said.
“I designed this coaching platform that incorporates two decades of my dart expertise and all of the knowledge I received from world-class players like Phil Taylor, Wayne Mardle and Colin Lloyd to name a few," he said.
Petersen said the IDSL is part of the growing system deployed globally to improve player standards and is part of a uniform platform that has international qualifying opportunities and professional systems that will equip any player, beginner or expert, with the necessary darting skills to rise to the top.
“We will start with a development six weeks and then introduce a league later this year with an International Darts School League qualifier that will see one learner go to the United Kingdom to compete in the IDSL championships finals,” he said.
As the league expands, he said, it is expected to empower thousands of pupils, fostering skills that extend far beyond the dartboard.
“Hopefully, the league will then be part of the school system and players will be exposed to stats and development plans just like top tier sports development programmes,” said Petersen.
BLACKBOARD TO DARTS BOARD Pheovan Filander, a teacher at Oklahoma Street Primary School, in Macassar, gears up to take a shot at the darts board, at last Saturday's scholl league launch, at Portland High
Image: Emily Norris
TALLY: Dartboard Maths founder Devon Petersen, from Portland, with LIam Jacobs, left, and Noah Skipper, who each received a Dartboard Maths kit to be used in the classroom
Image: Emily Norris
SHOT: Miscka McDonald takes aim at the target during the launch of the International Darts School League, at Portland High, last week.
Image: Emily Norris
EYE ON THE PRIZE: Budding darts players from 10 schools from across the city attended last week's IDSL, at Portland High.
Image: EMILY NORRIS
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