Darts star aims higher

Joanne Johnston has had her share of slips along the way, but she now can see the top of the mountain and would like nothing better than to take that last step and stay there.
The breast cancer survivor and local darts enthusiast has a new challenge in her life, which begins with her participation in the Professional Darts Corp.’s North American Pro Tour event on Aug. 17.
“This tournament is a big step in my dart career,” enthused Johnston, who lives at Calm Lake with her husband, Doug McIntyre. “This event will be televised by TSN, and top players across Canada and the U.S. will be there.
“Going to this level of darts may give me a whole new beginning of a dart career and recognition worldwide,” she added.
“It’s similar to pro golf in that I’ll be playing against people from all over the place, but if I do OK and make the top 64, I think I’ll stick with it at this level and keep advancing and improving.”
Johnston and her mixed doubles partner, Jeff Noble, took third place while representing Northern Ontario at the Canadian Nationals on June 10-13 in Winnipeg.
That performance caught the eye of Bull’s Eye Magazine, which sent her a letter inviting her to the Professional Darts Corp.’s Kitchener Open, which included entry into the pro event mentioned above.
Johnston first picked up the sport of darts about 20 years ago when she was in her mid-20s and has continued on despite some fairly large speed bumps along the way.
“It was a hobby to begin with, but I started playing more and more and got involved in a league in Atikokan back then,” she recalled. “I started at the professional level in 2000, and went to nationals in New Brunswick in 2003, but then I stopped for health reasons for a while.”
Those health reasons stemmed from the news she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“It’s kind of a miracle with what they can do nowadays [medically],” Johnston said matter-of-factly. “It’s done and over with and now that I’m back in better health, I can continue on where I left off and hopefully become a better dart player.”
Considering the five-year layoff between national competitions, her third-place finish in Winnipeg back in June was no small feat.
“I really surprised myself; some really good players out there,” Johnston conceded. “Some familiar faces, but a lot of new faces, too.
“I find the younger crowd moving in and the competition keeps getting harder.”
Johnston, who routinely practises several hours a day at home, is looking for sponsorship so she can fulfill her aspirations of competing on a professional tour—potentially going to big-money events in the U.S. down the road.
“I think darts [is] getting more and more widespread as a sport,” Johnston said. “I usually compete [on] teams but this is individual, with some big prize money.
“It just blows me away in some places in the States they are getting up to $300,000 [per event].”