HOWARD AT PLAY  (excerpt from the Baltimore Sun, Sunday, December 16, 2001, Page 3B)

"It's a blast - I've stuck with it for 10 years.  It's a nice night out."

Dart players make a point of having fun

Aim: Players in a league that dates to 1982 gather weekly to compete and socialize.

By Nancy Menefee Jackson

special to the sun

    Darts diehards keep the sport alive and well in a handful of Howard County bars.

    The appeal isn't just the ability to toss a steel dart with, as every thrower hopes, startling accuracy.  It's also the chance to get together with friends and enjoy a night out.

    The Howard County Dart Association, a competitive league that dates to 1982, has shrunk somewhat as friendly neighborhood taverns have closed.  But nearly 60 active players still gather weekly to hoist a few and toss a few - darts, as well as beers or other beverages.

    "The whole sport itself has gone into somewhat of a slump," says league president Clem Reagan, 43, a longtime player who lives in Columbia.  "There are not as many tournaments."

    Some of the bars and restaurants that provided the first venues for the local league have gone out of business, among them J.K.'s Pub in Columbia's

Dartboard:  Matt Whitmer retrieves his darts during a game last week at the Golden Sports Bar & Grill in Ellicott City, one of several venues for the game in the area.  The Howard County Dart Association has about 60 active members.

Wilde Lake Village Center, Lucky Ned Pepper's at what is now Fairway Hills Golf Course in Columbia and Sneakers in Columbia's Long Reach Village Center.

    But Reagan and his fellow players are determined to keep darts available in the Howard County area.

    Today's spots are Nathan Henry's in Sykesville, the Golden Sports Bar & Grill and the Judge's Bench in Ellicott City, the Last Chance Saloon in Oakland Mills Village Center, the Ram's Head Tavern in Savage and Loafer's Lounge, just over the Baltimore County line.  Teams can be found tossing darts, starting at 7:30 p.m., most Wednesdays.

    "It's just kind of where you hang out," says Scott Nelson, 35, who recently moved to Sykesville from Columbia but says his "home field" for darts is the Golden sports bar in the Triangle Shopping Center.  "We have faded in and out of existing places and been displaced by bands.  But we've gotten darts into some new places that didn't have them."

    Initially, it was a few players in Columbia who got together informally on Tuesday nights.  But the number of players quickly grew enough to form what was then called the Columbia Dart Association, with about 40 players.  When bars in Ellicott City were added, the name was changed.

    Within a few years, membership

Interested in trying?

To join the Howard County Darts Association, call Clem Reagan at 410-309-9642.  Teams are being formed, with sign-ups early next month.

    Players throw from behind a line called the hoche (pronounced "hockey") that is exactly 7 feet 9¼ inches from the board, which is 5 feet 8 inches above the floor.

    They toss steel-tipped darts weighing between 13 and 56 grams that stick in the board, which is marked with various point values, the most being awarded for hitting the smallest spot, the bull's-eye.

    Reagan invites everyone to join in, no matter where they live or how well they play.

    "Generally, new members are people who've thrown a couple of darts and gotten to the point where they enjoy it," he says.

    For those who take their darts seriously, there are competitive matches.

    "There's a difference between standing in front of the line and throwing a dart and standing in front of the line and playing a game," says Reagan.  "It's a challenging game."

    But he adds that anyone can play, and at tournaments up and down the East Coast, he regularly sees players in their 60s and 70s.

    One new member, now also a board member, is Lynn Martin, 32, of Columbia, who also happens to be the Maryland darts champion despite having started throwing in leagues two years ago.

    A friend invited her to play, she says, and she entered the Grant-A-Wish tournament, which determines the state champion.  The first year, she finished eighth.

    "Other than playing with my brothers in the basement, I had never played in front of anyone," she recalls.  "When I finished in the top eight, I was scared to go back.  I thought, 'I don't know if I can top that.'"

    But top it she did, winning last year in a game called 501, where players start with 501 points and subtract the amount earned on each throw.  The first to go out wins, although rules dictate that one must throw a "double" to go out, which means going out on an even number.

    Volunteers keep standings on teams and individual players.

    But friendship rather than competition ultimately keeps the league together.  Darts players often socialize, holding parties and cookouts at their homes.

    "For me, it's a chance to get out and hang out with my friends and see different people," says Nelson.  "It's just a good group; people are easy to get along with, and I've made a lot of close friends."

Clem Reagan, league president

had grown to 60 players and then to more than 100 players.

    Darts is said to have evolved into its current form in English pubs in the early 1900s.

    "It's a blast - I've stuck with it for 10 years.  It's a nice night out," says Nelson.

    Bars usually supply two or four boards and space to play.  A team consists of four to six players who play singles, doubles and team matches, and there are three to five levels of team play.