In a remarkable turn of events, 17-year-old Englishman Luke Littler has taken the darts world by storm over the past six months. Littler’s big breakthrough came at the recent World Darts Championship, where he faced off against seasoned pro Luke Humphries in a now-legendary final. But what makes Littler’s rise even more impressive is that just a month prior, he was still dominating the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC) events, the premier circuit for promising young talent aspiring to turn professional.
The Littler Effect
The JDC, catering to players 16 and under, has seen a surge in interest and participation thanks to Littler’s meteoric rise. Craig Neale, who founded the MK Sharks Darts academy in 2016, has witnessed the “Littler effect” firsthand. Neale’s academy, which employs nine coaches, two of whom are former academy products, has seen its membership skyrocket from 30 to 50 Sharks, with a waiting list of 13 children eager to join.
“Before Luke Littler, we had 30 Sharks. But the Luke thing was crazy, we got 20 new ones joined from that. We now have 50 and a waiting list of 13 children,” Neale explains, adding that his phone was ringing incessantly as people sought to enroll their children in the academy.
The JDC System
Neale’s academy operates on a handicap system, giving younger players a fair chance to compete and win in JDC tournaments, mirroring the path Littler himself took to stardom.
“It gives that younger person the chance to be able to win. It’s very heavily against the better players, the handicapped system. It’s just the way the system is,” Neale says.
The Littler effect has also sparked the emergence of promising young talents, such as 14-year-old Jack Marshall, who has recently won two JDC advanced tours, following in Littler’s footsteps.
“He’s essentially semi-pro, I guess you could say. He doesn’t get paid for it. He gets equipment and everything, but you could call it. He’s on that (professional) path,” Neale concludes.
The resounding success of Luke Littler has undoubtedly inspired a new generation of darts enthusiasts, with the JDC system playing a vital role in nurturing and developing the next crop of professional darts stars.
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