The Dirty Water Boys, Here for the Beer and What’s the Point.
If you can guess how these three things are related, you’re probably a member of the Barrie Pub Dart League, which turned 40 years old this week.
You wouldn’t think throwing a sharp thingy at a circular, horse-hair target would be romantic, but apparently it was to Bob Bellamy.
He started what would become the Barrie Molson Dart League — the precursor of the current league — on Valentine’s Day in 1982.
Darts were in Bellamy’s heart at the time and he was ready to spread the love, he tells BarrieToday.
“I graduated from Georgian College in 1982, got married, bought a house and opened a business,” Bellamy says. “The business was darts (he operated it out of his house for about four years before going all-in in his real estate career) because I had a love for darts and I was relatively good at it.
“I was the youngest guy to ever qualify for the all-Ontario.”
Playing darts in the league and selling members their dart equipment. Sounds like a good gig.
“The reason my dart store was so successful was because of the recession at the time,” Bellamy says. “Nobody could afford to do anything. But everybody could afford to buy a set of darts, go to the pub once a week and do something. That’s why it was successful.”
It was the Valentine’s Day weekend in 1982 when Bellamy held the experimental tournament at the Bayshore Motor Inn, now long gone.
“We had four or six teams and after that Lakeview Dairy came on, then the Wellington, the American, the Clarkson, Chances and the Clifton,” he says of those watering holes, also long gone.
Fast forward 40 years and now there are dozens of teams in bars, pubs and service clubs across the city on Tuesday nights.
Barrie Pub Dart League president Sue Courts tells BarrieToday she is hopeful that as the economy picks up, so will the league.
“Before COVID, we would’ve had around 180 to 200 players and this year we have about 120 to 130 players,” she says. “I do believe we will get everyone back once things with the pandemic really settle down.”
This year there is league play at eight venues, Courts says, adding there have been second- and even third-generation partners on teams over the years.
“There are lots of reasons why people play darts,” she says. “Some play to be competitive, others play for the social aspect, but for everyone it is a love of the game. We have different divisions in order to include all skill levels and new players are always welcome.”
Some of those new players might have a different view of the dart board they’re aiming for.
“We run a youth league on Saturdays out of the Queens Hotel,” Courts says. “We have kids of all ages from seven up to 18 years old and the only requirement for youth darts is you have to be able to hit the board with three consecutive darts. It’s for anyone of any skill level.
“We like to group our younger kids together and then we teach them the math and how to throw. There is a lot of math in darts to track what you’re scoring.”
Getting back to the social aspects of the dart league has been a long time coming, she adds.
“This league is more than just a league, it is a family community,” Courts says. “We are excited to return as it's been a long two years without in-person contact with that family.”
