Junior darts players have been stepping up to the oche at Sunny’s Sports Bar in Fort William.
Accompanied by parents, 45 young men and one lady aged six to 17, took part in a new competition on Friday, with some travelling from as far as Fort Augustus to pick up the arrows.
Venue owner Sunny Rodgers came up with the idea of staging a junior event after seeing similar tournaments elsewhere prove popular on social media.
Sunny already runs an annual darts tournament in memory of his late nephew Duncan Rodgers, a champion darts and shinty player and thought he would give it a go to see if there was any interest for a younger age group.
He put the idea to Martyn Cameron, who helps organise local darts leagues and competitions, and he agreed it was a great idea to give the younger generation the chance to take part in a sport which has a large adult following in Fort William.
Martyn put together a small team, including Active Schools co-ordinator Claire Delaney, to promote the junior event and on the night fellow members of the local darts group assisted with organising the heats, marking the boards and recording the results.
After some unrivalled enthusiasm from the young players, plans are now in hand to set up regular weekly practice sessions, with monthly competitions at weekends.
Sunny said: “It was great to see so many youngsters keen to take part and really enjoying it.
“The place was packed and I think the parents really appreciated it, too, as they were able to enjoy the atmosphere and watch the action.
“With so much bad news about the town, hopefully this will give the younger generation something to focus on and take part in.”
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