Electronic darts academy bringing young people together in Hastings area

A new Electronic Darts Academy in Hastings is proving to be a huge success and bringing children together
Darts Academy 2 SUS-200220-120652001Darts Academy 2 SUS-200220-120652001
Darts Academy 2 SUS-200220-120652001

The Academy is based at Bar 180 Sports Bar in Albert Road and had its official opening on Wednesday.

It was set up by local people Adrian and Abi Gray, who are foster carers.

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Abi explained: “After being carers for five years, we felt we wanted to give more to children, not only in foster care, but young people in general.

Darts Academy 3 SUS-200220-120933001Darts Academy 3 SUS-200220-120933001
Darts Academy 3 SUS-200220-120933001

“Adrian found a love for soft tip electronic darts a few years back, he now plays professionally and travels all over the world playing darts. This was when he then discovered how these DARTSLIVE machines work. He visited so many places and saw how passionate people were about playing on the machines. He also saw the machines were not only working for dart players but for everyone including young people. He saw the connection people made whilst playing especially the team games. People were having fun and all whilst playing darts.

“Adrian then felt he would introduce the DARTSLIVE machine to his foster children , birth children, family and friends. Adrian was overwhelmed by the positivity he received from everybody.

“People were excited as to when they were next going to play on the machine.

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Adrian then went on to running dart leagues in his local bar 180 sports bar in Hastings, this was huge. Adrian had over 16 players signing up and playing in his leagues, everybody was really enjoying this and still to this day Adrian is running soft tip darts leagues.

“Adrian was seeing massive improvements with his foster children and birth children when playing on the DARTSLIVE machine, they were team building, they were socialising together, they were actually coming out of their bedrooms which we all know is so hard these days with social media around, they were laughing and having so much fun.

“They were seeing different nationalities on the global games as this is similar to FaceTime and the machine has a built in camera and allows you to play people all over the world via the machine. The kids loved the social part of the global game, the waving and cheering and the communication side of this game is brilliant.

“This is where the i Dart Academy began. We set up the academy with an aim to help build social skills, communication skills, support the learning of a new skill, playing darts, create friendships and build confidence also give people somewhere to feel safe.

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“We encourage, support and challenge people to become all that they can. We provide a welcoming and safe environment within our community.

“We are unique and there is nothing similar around. The academy welcomes all abilities of players, ages 10 plus. We currently have a Facebook and Instagram page running where we update these on a daily basis with information.

“We are designing a uniform for the academy and are hoping for dart companies to possibly help fund this.

“Adrian is currently running therapeutic darts coaching at i Dart Academy within his fostering agency ISP as lots of the children are either not placed in school yet, have been removed from school or cannot cope within a school environment.

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“The results within these children are phenomenal. The children cannot express how much they enjoy these sessions, they get very sad once the session finishes and say they can’t wait until the next session.

“Foster agency ISP are currently funding these weekly sessions. The DARTSLIVE machine is £15 per hour per machine.

“There is a sports room available which could be purely for the i Dart Academy at 180 sports club. This would need a small refurb and a tidy up. “The room is perfect for the academy as it is set away from any distractions and is a very good size and is very secure. We are going to be running the academy every Tuesday and Wednesday 4.30pm - 6pm. This will consist of around 24 players.

“We are giving out a darts pack once the person joins, which includes a set of darts, membership for the academy, DARTSLIVE games card to play on the machine, and lots of dart accessories. We currently have 16 players signed up.”

The opening event on Wednesday saw around 30 children attending.

The new Academy is being sponsored by Soran’s Barbers, Lemon Gized Juice, Grosvenor Development, Rother Print and St Leonard’s Glass.

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