MOTHER AND SON FROM ROCKLAND HEAD TO NATIONAL DARTS COMPETITION
A local mother and son have qualified for National Darts competitions in the coming months.
Rhonda Maidment and son Ryan, from Rockland, will be competing in National Darts tournaments in Drummondville, Quebec. They both qualified for Nationals by succeeding in their respective provincial tournaments.
Ryan, who has just recently turned 18 years old, plays darts competitively in a youth league. He won the Senior Male Singles event at the Darts Ontario Provincial Championships that were held in St. Catharines, Ontario, from March 9 to 11.
This win qualified him to participate in the National Darts Federation of Canada Youth Nationals, which will be held in Drummondville, from May 16 to 21. If Ryan is also successful at Nationals, he could qualify for the British Darts Organization World Masters Youth Championships, which will be held in England in October.
“The World Masters is the highest honor you can get,” explained mother Rhonda Maidment. Maidment, who has been playing darts herself for over 20 years, has already qualified for the World Masters. She will be heading to the U.K. in October to compete. Maidment qualified by winning a Ladies Singles Event in P.E.I in September.
But before setting off for the U.K., she will be competing in Drummondville, at the Adult Nationals, in June. She qualified after she won second place in the Darts Ontario Ladies Singles Championships in St. Catharines.
“I’m so excited that mother and son are doing this in the same year; you really don’t hear that often,” added Rhonda Maidment. “It’s not my first time making Nationals, but it is my son’s first time. So I’m more excited for him than for me.”
Rhonda Maidment is also one of the coaches for the youth league in Ottawa, which recruits children from 8 to 18 years old in Ottawa and its surrounding areas. Along with a friend, she started this league about three years ago.
“The youth usually don’t have access because darts is primarily considered a bar game,” she admitted. “They don’t realize it but it helps them with their social skills, their math skills, because they have to be able to add and subtract the points. It helps them build relationships. Darts has so many great perks, so I promote it.”