Welcome to the 2026-2027 Season!
Updated: Oct 11
Welcome to the 2026-2027 season of District 69 Dart Association, celebrating its Golden Anniversary in 2027.
To kick off the season, the Executive updated our logo to include the dates 1977 to 2027 and thank Tom Ayley for bringing the idea forward and his wife, Joann, for the updated prototype graphic. Thanks to Rob Clark and Pony Moore for the final version of the logo, which can be seen on our website and signage.
Another big change this season is the method of recording scores. After last season, the team captains and most of the executive voted at the Captain’s Meeting on September 2nd to change the scoring method to a vintage method used when Mike Driscoll was a young man. Mock scoresheets were posted on the website and supplied to each team captain for reference to ensure uniform score reporting. The adage that nobody likes change has never been proved more accurate, with most teams missing one or more ‘new’ procedures each week. Yours truly is hoping that another adage “practice makes perfect” will kick in soon and result in flawlessly completed scoresheets for the remainder of the season. Fingers crossed!
Before I dive into reporting the dart activity during the first week of the season, I want to acknowledge the passing of two long-time players in August and September. Steve Collins passed in August after a brief illness, followed by Colleen McNeill on September 26. We will miss them both and grieve alongside their families.
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Week One paired last season’s teams against each other, letting the newly added team – Magi’s DartMares – have the first bye of the season.
The restructured Bristle Bashers, whose first name rhymes with thistle, missile or whistle and not pronounced like the city in the UK – Bristol (Briss-tull), met on the oche with last season’s league winners, the Rotor Maxx Renegades for thirty-three games of darts. Considering that the Basher’s team captain is Mike Driscoll, it was no surprise that this scoresheet was the only correctly submitted sheet of the week. The reformation of the Bashers brought out former Allwood Finisher, Larry Fuller and last year’s spare, Ember Hayes to join the Basher ranks with Ken Hayes and Don Enockson. Ken Hayes led the wins, besting every Renegade except Terry Strawson in his six trips to the toe-line. Captain Mike Driscoll pinned a 124 in his first singles match of the night against Renegade George Wallis to earn the team high score of the week, pushing Ember Hayes’ high score of 117 into second place. Leading the wins for the Renegades, Terry Strawson bested all five of his opponents hitting 140 and 100x2 along the way. Team mate George Wallis landed the first entry on the Leader Board, hitting a 171 in his winning match against Don Enockson. Set points resulted in 12 – 2 for the Renegades.
Final score Parksville Legion Bristle Bashers – 13, Rotor Maxx Renegades – 20
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Over at the Eagles Hall, the Eagles Hall X-Men hosted the Deep Bay Consulting Oceanside Triples (try saying that with a mouthful of cheezies) for a fun night of darts. Taking the lead early, the Triples won all three doubles games then faltered for the next three sets before besting the X-Men in the fourth singles set. Leading the wins for the home team, newest X-Men, Vern Phillips, proved his worth by being undefeated in his five games and joined team mate, Fraser Vincent, at the top of the scores by also hitting a 133. Oceanside Triple’s captain, Jim Hood, led his team in action by winning four of six singles games and topping the team scores for the week with a 132 in his winning match against X-Men’s Rob Sparrow. Set points resulted in 10 – 4 for the X-Men.
Final score Eagles Hall X-Men – 20, Deep Bay Consulting Oceanside Triples – 13
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Playing on the neighbouring boards, the Eagles Hall Darts of Hazzard hosted the Parksville Legion Short Sighted Crew to seven sets of darts. The sets were won evenly between the two teams, up until the fifth singles set, when the home team leapt ahead in wins taking the last two singles sets with 4-1 scores. DoH’s John Coulter lead the wins for the team, besting all five of his opponents. Newly appointed DoH captain, Heath Mahoney, was also victorious in his four matches, and almost made the Leader Board with a 79 checkout in his game against Triple, Ken Ermantrout. New team mate, Randy Burrows, was pulled from the spares list of last season and brought 3 wins in 4 games and topped the scores with a 140. The Oceanside Triples incorporated two of the former Dart Vaders to replace the exiting players of last season. Leading the wins, Peter Bisiker, won 3 or his 5 singles games and now wears the crown of “Captain” as Don Punter has stepped down from the position. Topping the team scores, Mike Runstedler, was prolific with the high scores, pinning a 116, 121 and 140 over the course of the night. Set points resulted in 8 – 6 for the Darts of Hazzard.
Final score Eagles Hall Darts of Hazzard – 19, Parksville Legion Short Sighted Crew – 14
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Back at the Parksville Legion, the renamed Respect-A-Bulls welcomed two new players and are now known as the Remark-A-Bulls, hosted the AMC Straight Arrows to thirty-three games of slinging arrows. Taking the lead early, the Straight Arrows won the first two sets, lost the third, but returned to winning sets through to the end of the match. Leading the wins for the Straight Arrows, Captain Rob Clark and Mike Beno were both 100% on their doubles in each of their five singles matches. Rob also topped the team scores with 100, 121, 125 & 140, overtaking Shane Ovington and Mike Beno’s high scores of 133. The seven-member Remark-A-Bulls, struggled against their adversaries, with Joe Fortune and Anita Hopps winning 50% of their matches to become the top wins for the team. Team mate Tom Ayley topped the scores with a 114, pinned during his attempt to best Mike Beno. Set points resulted in 12 – 2 for the Straight Arrows.
Final score Parksville Legion Remark-A-Bulls – 11, AMC Straight Arrows – 22
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