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 The American Darters Association has dedicated dart league programs for adults, youth, the military – but what about senior citizens? “Darts for seniors are our next big frontier,” said ADA president Glenn Remick. “Today the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) is America’s second-largest association with a membership of 35 million senior citizens, and the U.S. senior population is growing by almost one million people every year.”
The ADA is making inroads into the senior market with one highly successful pilot program, and with prospects for two more such programs. Darts are already a growing presence in the Senior Olympics in Missouri. Second, ADA dart programs are under active consideration in Western Missouri’s state-run Senior Citizen Centers. Finally, the ADA is exploring the possibilities of providing management services for dart leagues in planned retirement communities throughout the United States.
“Darts are a perfect sport for seniors,” Remick declared. “As an AARP member myself, I personally experience the value of a strategy-oriented sport that keeps you physically active, yet doesn’t strain a person’s system. Darts promote socialization, fun, and a friendly competitive spirit. They’re just good old-fashioned fun!”
ADA’s national headquarters provides a sophisticated computer program that tracks every dart thrown by a qualified league player. This system, combined with the association’s weighting of past player performance, ensures that players of all skill levels have an equally good chance to win in their respective divisions. The national ADA computer also integrates and calculates weekly league results lightning-fast, and transmits team and individual standings back to the local competitors within days or even hours, as well as posting them on the ADA website.
The Senior Olympics for the state of Missouri now boasts 68 dart competitors at the state finals level. These players represent finalists who qualified from larger fields of senior players at five local Senior Olympics charter groups through the Show-Me State. “Participation is doubling and, in some markets, tripling every year,” says Remick.
He also believes that the success of ADA dart programs in Missouri’s Senior Olympics program represents a solid opening phase in a potentially explosive growth market. All 50 states run their own individual chartered Senior Olympics programs.
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