After producing a Caribbean junior champion, darts in the Cayman Islands intends to focus on the youth.
Cassius Anglin served as the national coach when Cayman recently competed at the 20th Caribbean Cup Tournament in Tampa, Florida, organized by the Caribbean Darts Organization in conjunction with the Florida Dart Association. Anglin says there are plans to develop junior talent after Arek Archibold emerged the youth winner for the first time.
“The tournament was good exposure for the youth and they had fun and made some new friends,” Anglin said. “This youth tournament expects to get better, Cayman actually set the standard having four youths, and all of the other countries are now talking about bringing youth. We are currently planning to create a youth league to grow the sport.”
Archibold, 16, topped a field of eight junior players and is Cayman’s first youth champion at the regional level. To claim the title, he competed against his opponents in seven rounds – winning six times – with each round consisting of five games.
Archibold said he intends to continue with the sport and be a top adult player for the 2016 competition in Barbados.
“I feel it went pretty well, I accomplished what I came for,” Archibold said. “Am I feeling overwhelmed to be champion? Not really. It’s one of my long-term goals. I want to be senior champion next. I’d like to work on my finishing, I’m not hitting the doubles yet.”
Darts at the international level is nothing new for Archibold. He competed at the 2010 Caribbean championship in the Bahamas at the age of 12 and was second in the junior division to 17-year-old Shaun Nairaine of Canada. Archibold hails from a dart-playing family, with dad Anthony “Tony” Archibold, stepdad Earl Smith and mum Irma Smith all having played for the national team.
Aside from Arek Archibold, Cayman featured juniors Adrian Anglin and siblings Kayjahe and Kaylone Warren. Cassius Anglin, who is Adrian’s father, said all of them held their own in Florida.
“Going into the tournament, we had high expectations of young Arek, being the eldest and more experienced of the group. Arek won the hearts of many fans, becoming the first-ever youth champion. He made us proud. Kaylone has only been playing a short time so not much was expected of him and if he keeps it up, he will be a force to reckon with.
“Kayjahe only went on the trip to support her mom but luckily got slotted into the tournament and impressed everyone there. I was able to coach her in some games and when told what to go for, she was not far from the target. She has a natural hand for darts and I would love to see her continue to play.”
Kajaye Warren was one of the revelations of the competition, having been in the sport for only three weeks. She said the idea of being a role model to other kids is encouraging.
“Was I intimidated? Kinda because I was new and I didn’t know what I was doing,” Kajaye Warren said. “To be honest, I thought it was stupid. But then when I threw my first dart, I actually realized it was kind of nice. Because people look up to me, it’s a good thing.”
Another youngster who looks to inspire other kids is Adrian Anglin, the youngest team member at just 13 years old.
“I think I did pretty good, but I think I could have done a bit better,” Adrian Anglin said. “I just have to focus a bit more and practice a bit. I think the other kids, hearing that someone like me can play as well, that’ll pretty much motivate them to want to play. I’m pretty happy.”
The success of the juniors was one of the biggest highlights for a Cayman squad that finish sixth overall out of nine countries. The other notable achievements were Mel Tagalog advancing to the finals of the Americas Cup event and Cliff Weeks winning the men’s high point award for a score of 151.
Nathina Ebanks, mother of Kajaye and Kaylone Warren, was part of the national team and said she is proud of her kids’ involvement in the sport.
“I feel honored to know my kids are following in my footsteps and playing in the sport,” Ebanks said. “I know with my daughter, the plans were really not for her to play but to come along and give support to me and my son. She actually volunteered to play so I was amazed with her picking that up on her own initiative. Kajaye was praised a lot when she was in the United States because she’s never thrown darts really, apart from the three weeks when she came out to training to support us before we went off.
“When she threw and had her first finish, the whole audience praised her. But she’s never thrown to aim to finish a game, so I’m a proud mom.
“Kaylone naturally has a love for the sport although he’s just playing through four months. He was also new to the event. Him going and seeing all of the other youth playing, they all bonded – not only as friends – and that gave him more of a drive to play. From he returned home, all he wants to do is practice.”
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