USA! USA! USA! USA! 40 Years Strong!
This past weekend, the American Darters Association along with our England Counterparts not only gave our thanks to Veteran’s nationwide, but also celebrated our 40th Anniversary together with the annual Darts Across the Sea Match! The event was born 40 years ago with Northampton, Massachusetts vs Northampton England.
This anniversary team consisted of ADA Members from 5 states: Delaware, Ohio, Missouri, Wyoming and of course our hosting state of Colorado.
The final roster was:
- Team Captain Beth Davis CO
- Danny Moore CO
- Kyle Hunt CO
- Robert Williams CO
- Justin Hilliker MO
- Pat Jurasin OH
- Tony Rook OH
- Jason Yoder DE
- Frank Watkins DE
- Shawna Moench CO
- Shelley Edwards WY
- Anna DaCunha DE
- Shadd Cordrey (A) CO
Team England with ADA Rep Jeff Billingham
The final roster was:
- Team Captain Jeff Billingham
- Aydan O’Keefe
- Janek Hill
- Paul Fount
- Ian McCleod
- Alex Dilley
- Jamie Elliott
- Gary MountCastle
- Selena Mullen
- Karan Billingham
- Melynda Stewart
- Carrie Wright
Our match on state side was held at Cheers Bar & Grill located at 11964 Washington St, Northglenn, CO 80233. The owners name is Robert Kirk and to add a twist to the day, he is original from England and grew up 20 miles from England’s hosting location, FoundryMan’s Pub.
In our eyes Robert was torn on who to ‘cheers’ for, even though half way through the match he came out with his countries ‘hometown flag’. He hosted a great match none-the-less!
The start to determine which team is “Home” and “Away” the team captains selected youth mascots from each side to throw 12 darts to obtain the highest score. England selected two brothers, Henry (age 7) & Marty (age 4) O’Keefe vs our gracious score keeper and daughter of Shawna Moench, Mel Moench. We are happy to announce Mel won the High Score Challenge 196 – 168 to the O’Keefe brothers! Henry and Marty averaged 20 PPDA!
USA is the Home Team and will start the Odd Numbered games! Thanks Mel!
The scoring between the two countries was an ’01 program called N01. This program made it possible to see both opponent’s scores on each side in real time. Though at the board we also utilized one our partner’s scoring program: DartConnect.
The format, a team of 12 vs a team of 12 consisting of Mixed Doubles, Men’s Doubles and everyone plays Singles. All matches are best two out of three, best of 19 legs.
The International Match game 1 was Mixed Doubles. To kick it off it was USA’s Jason Yoder & Anna DaCunha vs. England’s Jeff & Karan Billingham. And we were off!
England ends up taking a 2 – 1 lead from game one against the Delaware Duo. But that didnt last long as Danny & Shawna came back with a 2 – 0 shut out in game two!
The match would then go back and forth like a tennis match through game 7, making the score 9 – 6. England had us on the ropes!
Games 8 – 13 were all Singles matches on both the male and female side. Before Jason Yoder’s Singles match in game 8, he ended up rallying the whole USA team with a “team morale booster announcement”. Some would argue, but in our eyes it was the ‘third’ best thing to happen in the day! And boy did it work! Jason, Kyle Hunt, Danny Moore, Shawna Moench, Tony Rook and Shelley Edwards all captured 2 games from their matches. Tony was definitely the MVP of the Singles matches, checking out big outs with his 13 and 15 darts!
Match Score Card now:
ADA – 20
England – 12
It seemed like USA was smooth sailing from here, until, well Alex Dilley (E) came up against Robert Williams (USA). Alex made quick work of Robert 2 – 0 with a 107 check out on the 2nd match: Triple 19……Double Bull! England would gain another 2: ADA – 20 England 14.
Pat while sitting on deck during Roberts match, watched the whole thing. While heading to the line, passing Robert, he whispered to him: “don’t worry partner, I got this.” And he did, taking two straight from Paul Fount. ADA – 22 England 14.
The last remaining games just like the beginning of the day, went back and forth:
Melynda Stewart (E) took 2 – 0 from our Anna DeCunha
Frank Watkins (USA) took 2 – 0 against ADA England Rep Jeff Billingham
and our final match and anchor, Justin Hilliker (USA) took 2 – 1 over Janek Hill.
2022 ADA vs England Official Score Card
The 40th Anniversary Match was in the books with another USA Win!! Final Score: 25 – 18!
After the match while celebrating the win, I got a call from our ADA England Rep Jeff Billingham. He first congratulated team ADA USA on another victory on this amazing darts day! But then hit me with some sad news, this 40th Anniversary match was going to be his last in the Captain’s Chair. This position was passed down from the original England Captain: Horace Hanley, which gave Jeff the position in 2010. Jeff, it has been a pleasure and 12 great years with you my friend overseeing this annual challenge! We hate to see Jeff leave, but it is now his turn to pass the torch. We would like to officially welcome newest ADA England Rep Jamie Elloitt to the helm!! Welcome Jamie and your staff, Alex Dilley, Lee Rose, Morgan Goodes and Stacee Dexter! We cannot wait to see what the future brings for the 41st event!
I would also like to thank Gloria Remick and wish her a Happy 40th Anniversary celebration that she started back in 1982! She is definitely our ADA Dart Mom and we cheers to her and all her work and effort over the last 40 years with this event and all the members she has coached along the way! Cheers Gloria, We love you!
We would also like to thank and give shout outs to our partners in this historical challenge: GLD/Viper, Beer Barrel Products, the Locations, Cheers and FoundryMan’s Pub, our ADA Reps, N01, DartConnect, ADA Home Office and our members nationwide for making this possible! Cheers to next year! Thank you!