While some would consider darts nothing more than a light-hearted pub game, the sport has a deeply competitive side, and maintains a dedicated fanbase, particularly in the U.K. In the last two years or so, professional darts has experienced something of a renaissance in popular culture, with fierce competition and the recent rise of a certain Luke Littler, the youngest world champion in darts history.
Echoing the sport’s increasing popularity, a group of enthusiastic Edinburgh students have reestablished the Edinburgh University Darts Society (EUDS), hoping to share their love for the sport with the student body.
While darts clubs have flourished at other universities, EUDS has faced tough times recently — the society was dissolved last year due to minimal uptake and was lacking the formal framework for involvement in competitions. Adrian Maroto-Andresen, this year’s secretary, has been playing for a few years: “My girlfriend had a board at her house, and I started playing out of boredom every time she went for a run. After that I was pretty quickly hooked.”
Now that he’s part of the society, Adrian’s enthusiasm shines through as he details his ambitions for the future of EUDS: “We’d love to start playing in competitions, but that’s something for a bit further down the line. We’re scouting venues at the moment and just building student enthusiasm for darts.” Part of the problem with participating in competition is that EUDS isn’t part of the Sports Union, as there isn’t currently any BUCS darts. As an alternative, they’re currently in contact with other Scottish universities about the possibility of starting a league and building a network around Scotland: “We’re just going through the growing pains of a society, but it’s exciting at the same time.”
“Darts isn’t a massive mainstream sport, but we’d love to be part of the Sports Union — it would give us such a leg up in terms of support and funding,” adds Rocco Renson, who also sits on the committee. He may have lost the EUDS presidency over a game of FIFA, but he is an integral part of the team, courting local businesses and prospective sponsors: “While we’re getting the society back on its feet, our main objective is spreading the word and getting people playing. It’s such a social game, and anyone is welcome. They don’t have to be the next world champion.” Their most recent social included a ‘three pints, two cigarettes, and a pickled egg’ challenge, and they’re already planning a five-a-side fundraiser with the Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society.
This relaxed attitude is exactly what EUDS are going for, as exemplified by their social media presence — leaning into the social side of darts helps to get people involved. The energetic Instagram posts are definitely Rocco’s forte: “I’ve hardly played darts in my life, but it’s a great creative outlet. We’re making darts sexy again.” Don’t be fooled, though — EUDS have big things in the works, with great competitive opportunities and many more social darts events ahead.
Photo courtesy of EUDS.