Saskatchewan Darts Association Archives

Our adult team finished up in seventh place at the 2011 NDFC National Championships, our best result since 2007. Here they are in the official team photo, taken June 14 at Edmonton:

Back Row, L-R: Cliff Culbert, Curt Gamble, John Brann, Jim Dennis. 3rd row: RCMP officer, Karsten Larsen, Ken Friesen, Becky Arndt, Shauna Grassing (coach), RCMP officer. 2nd row: Tracy Keel, Brian Humphreys, Wayne Hudson, Georgina Ratt, Carol Shepherd.
Front row: Marlene Culbert, Tiffany Caron, Lowine Binkley, Laurie Kitzul (SDA President), Bonnie Lapierre.

The first day featured the doubles competition. We had two pairs in the last 16: Tracy/Marlene and Lowine/Bonnie.

In singles on Day 2, Cliff, Bonnie and Carol made the knockout. Unfortunately, Bonnie and Carol were drawn to play one another in the first round. Carol finished joint 9th.

In the mixed doubles, Lowine/Curt and Bonnie/John made it out of their sections. Bonnie and John made it to joint 9th.

1st	Alberta	285
2nd	Quebec	238
3rd	Nova Scotia	233
4th	Ontario	231
5th	Newfoundland & Labrador	222
6th	British Columbia	185
7th	Saskatchewan	167
8th	New Brunswick	157
9th	Northern Ontario	149
10th	Manitoba	130
11th	Northwest Territories	123
12th	Prince Edward Island	62

As part of their trip, the team also took part in the Canadian Open singles, in which several of our players progressed from the round robin. Jim made joint 17th.

The SDA is proud of all our players and the sportsmanship they demonstrated during the Nationals. Thanks to Laurie and Shauna for representing the SDA, coaching the team and officiating on our behalf and to Jeff Berner and the team's spouses for their invaluable support.

SDA Provincials, Saskatoon, April 10: John Brann of Regina (left) shot three days of near-perfect darts to win the 2011 Provincials men's event by a wide margin. His record was an amazing 96-8.

Bonnie Lapierre of Regina (right) regains her title of women's champion, winning for the sixteenth time.

Here's a run-down of the players that will represent Saskatchewan at the NDFC Canadian Nationals in Edmonton this June:

1 John Brann Regina	1 Bonnie Lapierre Regina
2 Curt Gamble Moose Jaw	2 Lowine Binkley Hudson Bay
3 Cliff Culbert Hodgeville	3 Georgina Ratt Stanley Mission
4 Karsten Larsen Saskatoon	4 Carol Shepherd Moose Jaw
5 Brian Humphreys Flin Flon	5 Tiffany Caron Regina
6 Ken Friesen Saskatoon	6 Becky Arndt Regina
7 Wayne Hudson Saskatoon	7 Marlene Culbert Hodgeville
8 Jim Dennis Regina	8 Tracy Keel Regina
Alt Curtis Neufeld Swift Current	Alt Judy Cleaveley Hudson Bay

This year's Zone Cup goes to Stanley Mission with 63.0% wins. Next was Regina, 59.5%, followed by Moose Jaw, 57.0%. High out was a 170 by Brian Humphreys. Nice shot! A total of 118 maximums were thrown and they're all included in Maximum Exposure.

The beautiful new silver championship trophies are sponsored by Jeff Berner of Western Pizza. The old trophies, which have served since 1984, were presented to six-time champion Danny McKenzie of Stanley Mission and to Bonnie Lapierre, in recognition of their career achievements. They're pictured right.

Team rep Carol Shepherd makes her 25th appearance as a Team Saskatchewan player, a record that will stand for a long time. There's one rookie this year: Tiffany Caron made it on her first try. Congratulations to her and all the players who made the team.

The SDA thanks Elaine Walker of SUDO and her team of volunteers for all their hard work during the three-day event.

Nationals turned out to be a tough go for Team Saskatchewan, who finished in tenth place overall.

In men's singles, several of the guys made a splash and Jimmy Dennis ended up advancing to the first round. In the ladies', former Canadian champ Bonnie Lapierre made it through the round robin, only to be knocked out early. Carol Shepherd lost out in a tiebreaker.

In men's doubles, ladies' doubles and mixed doubles events, our players gave it a good shot.

On the brighter side, rookie player Karsten Larsen tried his luck at the Americas Cup qualifier and ended up fourth, one win from a trip to the Bahamas in fact. An excellent first try at some real tough competition.

Team Saskatchewan 2010 at the NDFC National Championships in Gander, Newfoundland June 15.
Back row, L-R: Jim Dennis, Brian Humphreys, Curt Gamble, John Brann. Middle Row; RCMP officer, Cliff Culbert, Jason Skinner, Karsten Larsen, Guy Gilbert, Wayne Hudson (SDA), RCMP officer. Front row: Dorothy Zimmer, Wendy Stoop-Hrechka, Sharon Acker, Carol Shepherd, Pat Copeman, Becky Arndt, Laurie Kitzul (SDA Pres). Front; Bonnie Lapierre, Joan Hodgen.

The full results from Gander can be found at the new NDFC website. They're updating more frequently nowadays and you'll get started here.

Team Saskatchewan were shut out at the National Darts Championships, their best finish being ninth place.

In women's singles, Bonnie Lapierre and Joan Hodgen each finished joint ninth June 17.

Ladies' team captain Lapierre and eleventh-hour substitute Marlene Culbert were also joint ninth in women's doubles on opening day. Marlene was a late addition when Bonnie's original partner and Saskatchewan number two Georgina Ratt had to drop out.

In mixed doubles, Saskatchewan pair Curt Gamble and Laurie Lyons made the knockout round.

And after all the results were in, Saskatchewan's team ended up ninth overall in the Canada Cup '09.

At the awards ceremony, long-time SDA executive Pat Copeman was presented with lifetime membership of the NDFC.

The Nationals took place in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec. See the Provincials story below for team names and zones. You can link to the NDFC Adult page for full results.

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, May 15: Saskatchewan senior girls Aspen Cleaveley (Hudson Bay) and Alitha Chamney (Estevan) finished joint third in the doubles on the first day of the 2009 NDFC Youth Nationals. Great job girls!

May 16: SDA Youth Director Trish Gray says Saturday was a tough day for our players in the singles competition, with hard losses for some. No one advanced past the first round, but there was awesome group support, says Trish. Even after Team Sask had all finished for the day, they sportingly stuck around for stage play in a "sea of white" team shirts.

"On Sunday we played the Nodor Cup event, our first round was against New Brunswick. The players did very well, but unfortunately the team lost 3-4 ending the opportunity to continue.

"Next was the mixed doubles event. The competition was fierce and all of our mixed teams played very well, but unfortunately they did not continue on into any of the medal draws.

Front row, L-R: Jacki Lalonde (SDA), Austin Morrison, Aspen Cleaveley, Trish Gray (SDA), Alitha Chamney, Megan Lyons, Naomi Netowaysin. Back row: Hunch Gray (SDA), Mitch Kavanagh, Tyson Newell, James Walter, Brian Humphreys (SDA).

"It was very emotional for some of the players, but I told them that I did not care about the Ws, the medals or any of that. As long as they felt that they played well that is all that mattered to me. I was never disappointed with any of them - they are all my heroes.

"Megan Lyons played in the World Masters qualifier. She advanced through a couple of the knock-out draws and played exceptionally well. She had the whole team standing right behind her all the way.

"It was such a pleasure to take this group of fine young adults to Saint-Hyacinthe and watch them compete for Saskatchewan with pride, dignity and awesome sportsmanship!"

Winnipeg, June 10, 2008: Bonnie Lapierre and Carol Shepherd took joint third place in ladies' doubles at the NDFC National Darts Championships.

Bonnie and Carol were in Winnipeg with the rest of Team Saskatchewan for the Nationals. The 16-member team is pictured below, posing on opening day June 10.

Back row: Phil Roberts, Cliff Culbert, Jason Skinner, Guy Gilbert, Steve McKechnie, Danny McKenzie, Jim Dennis, Brian Humphreys, Judy Seidler (SDA Pres). Front row: Pat Copeman (SDA Exec), Judy Cleaveley, Lowine Walter, Dorothy Zimmer, Marlene Culbert, Carol Shepherd, Joan Hodgen, Bonnie Lapierre, Georgina Ratt. Photo courtesy MDA.

More results from Winnipeg: Bonnie Lapierre made joint 9th in the ladies' singles. Georgina Ratt finished joint 17th. In ladies' doubles, in addition to semi-finalists Lapierre and Shepherd, Georgina Ratt and Marlene Culbert were joint 17th. Over in the men's doubles, Jim Dennis and Brian Humphreys were the highest finishing Saskatchewan team with joint 17th.

Two of our mixed pairs made it out to the last 32: Danny McKenzie and Bonnie Lapierre, Steve McKechnie and Marlene Culbert. The NDFC website has full draw results posted - just follow this link, choose a competition and click on the word "knockout".

In an early result from Winnipeg, the SDA's own Bonnie Lapierre wins the ladies' singles event at the Red River pre-tournament. Nice job!

Final results from NDFC Youth Nationals: Saskatchewan finishes third with 69 points, behind Ontario (1st - 86) and Alberta (2nd - 83).

Winnipeg, May 18: Jaret Gray and Alitha Chamney finish joint third in the senior mixed doubles. In the Nodor Cup team event, Saskatchewan were joint third.

May 17: Singles successes include a second place for Megan Lyons of Nipawin in the junior girls, and joint third for Jaret Gray of Rosetown in the senior boys' event.

May 16: Senior boys Jaret Gray and Wade Grassing take first place in the doubles. Alitha Chamney and Janine Grassing finished second in the senior girls' doubles. Junior girls Megan Lyons and Nicole Allardice came in joint third in their event.

Coaching this year were Trish and Hunch Gray; our chaperones were Jim Dennis and Shauna Grassing. For photos of the team see our Youth page.

Danny "Moon" McKenzie of Stanley Mission, SK reached the final of the Canadian National Darts Championship at the Saskatoon Inn June 13, 2007.

McKenzie qualifies to play in the World Masters in England, representing Canada.

Five-time Saskatchewan provincial champion McKenzie says he’s “always dreamed of getting into professional darts.” On stage in the final with a raucous home-town audience cheering his every throw, he took one step further towards his dream. “I liked the sound of that ‘One hundred and eighty’ when the guy announced it,” he says.

McKenzie was beaten in the Men’s singles final by two-time world champion* and now 5-time Canadian Champion John Part of Ontario. Part, nonetheless proud of his achievement, admits to 'spoiling the party' in an interview on the PDC website. Read the interview here.

Danny finished first in his section, and then proceeded to take care of players from Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Ontario's number two Dan Olson before meeting Part in the final.

McKenzie equals the best ever performance by a Saskatchewan man at Nationals. Carl Mercer came second in 1995 as a member of Team Sask. Brian Gatin was 3rd in 1991.

The Men's Sportsmanship award for 2007 Nationals goes to Danny McKenzie of Saskatchewan. The most sporting woman is Kim Whaley-Hilts of Ontario.

In the 2007 Canada Cup, we were two points back of sixth-place B.C., but we held sway over Northern Ontario, New Brunswick and Manitoba.

Out of twelve teams at Nationals, overall winners were Ontario, followed by Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Quebec. You can see a full breakdown of the points on the NDFC Adult page.

Team Saskatchewan 2007 are shown below in the official team photo taken at the Saskatoon Inn June 12.

Lachine, Quebec, May 20 : For the first time in its history, the NDFC Youth Canada Cup finished in a draw. Tied on points for first place were Saskatchewan and Alberta. Full points breakdown here

On the whole a very strong performance by our Youth at Nationals. You can see the full results here on our Youth Page