|
2008 marks the third year of consecutive growth for the ADA Professional Darters Certification Program (PDCP). I would like to celebrate that success with all those who enjoy participating in or following our sport of darts.
I’ll start by congratulating the 100+ ADA members who are now Certified Professional Darters. And we want to extend our thanks to them for helping us overtake, sooner than we had projected, this important “century” mark through their commitment to our sport and to achieving the level of skill and consistency required to be recognized as sports professionals.
The ADA is the only national darts organization to certify Professional darters. Certainly there are hundreds, if not thousands, of “self-proclaimed” Pros out there….just ask them! In fact, outside of the ADA, when a darter proclaims they are a Pro simply ask them for proof.
Certifying ADA members as Professionals is a giant step forward to darts being recognized as a sport. As I’ve written in the past there are many outside of our industry who categorize darts as a “leisure time activity” or a “hobby”. Even worse these same individuals view those who play darts as an excuse to go to the pub for a cocktail. Without Certified Professionals at times I found it difficult to portray darts as a sport. Fortunately those days are behind me!
All major league sports have “Professional” players. Their Professionals are defined in somewhat different ways by their respective sports however all major league sports have several common factors in their definitions of “professional” players. The first common defining factor is obvious. There must be a governing body of the sport that certifies and validates them. This “first factor” is actually contract based. That’s important – it’s a matter of a contractual relationship.
No major league sport in America makes any allowances for self-proclaimed professional players and the ADA is no exception. That is why we enter into a contractual relationship with our Certified Professional Darters. We’ve learned from these major sports and structured the ADA PDCP the same way. Once qualified an ADA member must agree to the sixteen page Certification Agreement. Under the terms and conditions the Pros ability is just one of the requirements to qualify. In addition to maintaining a higher than average playing ability they must commit to competing in the American Dart League year-round in a minimum number of games (through ADA league play) at their local pub. Sound familiar? The same can be said for NBA, MLB, NHL and the NFL. You’ll note three of the four have the word “league” in their titles.
Another important item in this agreement is the “Code of Conduct & Code of Ethics”. EVERY major league sports contract has one. It simply states that during their tenure as a Pro they must conduct themselves properly on and off the playing field. To do otherwise the governing organization can levy infractions jeopardizing their Pro status.
This “check & balance” mechanism is designed to maintain the integrity of each sport. In the process it also sets the stage for ADA corporate sponsorship and local sponsorship for the Pro. In fact many of our Pros have already gained sponsored by businesses in their community. More on this important topic later.
I briefly touched on the “skill” factor – ability level and I’ll take this moment to expand on it. Let’s take a look at the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), an organization that certifies the credentials of somewhere in the neighborhood of 26,000 professional golfers. If you were a professional golfer, there would be no problem getting access to your entire professional career scoring averages.
What if you are a professional darter? Other than the ADA, there is not a single darts organization in America that has a computerized system that captures career performance statistics and certifies the accuracy of those statistics.
As to the general comment on skill levels, let’s stay with the golf analogy. In golf, the skill level is determined by where one’s score comes down in relationship to par. Par is usually determined by the score a golfer will turn in at any given time on any given course. Therefore, we generally expect a PGA professional golfer to come in below par, but many of them often do not do so. Does it happen every time, of course not? But as long as they demonstrate the minimum level of skill required by professional golf’s governing body, they keep their status as PGA golfers. And if you have ever walked into a clubhouse in the company of a PGA professional golfer you know how prestigious the designation is.
Because, in the PGA and the world of golf, (and in the ADA) there is much more to being a professional than simply winning money playing the sport.
The PGA identification card that the 26,000 Pro Golfers carry in their pockets speaks volumes about commitment to the sport, dedication to constantly working to achieve the consistency needed to play at the professional level and the kind of character and comportment that professionalism requires.
That’s what it means to be a major league sport professional. That’s what it means to be an ADA Certified Professional Darter.
You may recall that in the initial paragraphs of this article I noted that our program had exceeded 100 ADA Certified Professional Darters sooner than we had projected. Our projections were based on the historical growth statistics we got from the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), which was founded back in 1958.
The PBA was formed for the purpose of certifying the credentials of those who wished to become professional bowlers. Because, 50 years ago, the participants and promoters of that sport came to the realization that, without a national, credible authority to certify and validate the status and good standing of professional bowlers, there could be no such thing as a professional bowler.
It didn’t matter if the rank and file bowlers felt that a national governing body was not needed or others were of the opinion that the skills level required by that governing body to qualify to be a pro was too low (or too high). It didn’t matter if you bowled high scoring games consistently and conducted yourself as a complete professional would while doing so. None of that mattered because there was no national, credible governing body to certify your career scoring record and character and thus establish you as a professional. And to market and validate you and your fellow professionals as a good investment for potential sponsors.
Can I make it any clearer than that?
So, in spite of the bowling naysayer’s and detractors, the PBA was founded. The first year the PBA certified 33 professional members. A dozen years later, in 1970, PBA professionals numbered 700. Now of course there are thousands of PBA bowlers. This all because of the vision and conviction of the founders and that of the initial 33 PBA members.
Based on the model of the PBA of 50 years ago (a fairly close fit with the darts model) we expected to take at least another year to reach 100 Certified ADA Pros. Needless to say we are delighted to reach this milestone this soon. It bodes well for the Program and our sport.
Before I close, I want to mention again that there is a one year qualifying period to become an ADA Certified Professional Darter. Therefore ’08 is the qualifying year for ’09. To be eligible for Pro status an ADA member must be participate in an Open League division by March 31st.
To enroll in the American Dart League contact your local ADA Franchisee. If the ADA does not exist in your immediate area contact our office and we will work with you to develop a division.
Between now and then continue to visit the ADA web site for Pro updates.
2008 Professional Darters:
www.adadarters.com/adl/prolist.html
PDCP Rules & Regulations:
www.adadarters.com/docs/prodartercert_rules-regulations.pdf
|