Bullseye

Before Jay Hammond joined Birmingham’s only steel-tipped dart league last spring, about 30 years had passed since he’d thrown some darts with his buddies, none of whom had ever been part of an official league.

But after their first season, Hammond said, they “were hooked.”

“We love it,” he said, adding that their ‘home bar’ for the season was Rogue Tavern. 

Birmingham Dart League home bars, where teams host competitions, are scattered all over the Birmingham metro area, from downtown at Cahaba Brewing and Mom’s Basement to The Beer Hog and Jelly’s Bar in Pelham and Red Hills Brewing in Homewood.

“It’s good for new players because everybody is so welcoming and patient, explaining the game and sharing beers and talking with us,” Hammond said.

In contrast to Hammond, longtime player Keith Hare has been throwing darts competitively since the ’90s. Hare, who likes the game for its competitive nature and the fact that it requires strategy, said it was only his team’s first or second time in the league when they went undefeated and won the championship. Although he said winning is the goal, what Hare really likes about the league is the community and how he was able to spend time with people he hadn’t seen in years. 

“You meet friends and make friends, and you have them for years,” Hare said.

Hammond said he had talked for a long time about playing darts after work, but it never worked out until he found the Birmingham Darts League online and emailed League Commissioner Andy Shu. Shu, who has been throwing for a decade, was friendly and laid-back, Hammond said — minus the occasional minor frustration when his dart game didn't go as planned, he teased. Everybody in the league his team met, Hammond said, was the same way, even when they were on opposite sides of the game.

“It’s competitive without being too competitive. You can compete in this league, and there’s a lot of different skill levels, and you'll play against other people on your same level,” Hammond said.

As of summer, the Birmingham Darts League has been around for five years. Only four teams competed in the first season of the Birmingham Darts League, but since then, it’s gotten more popular each year, with a total of 12 teams competing in the last season.

Shu said there was a time where the league had a fairly big gap in the level of talent, and some teams would “beat the other teams down,” but they’ve since fixed this problem. 

“I always tell everybody, if you've never thrown before or only thrown a little bit, you're welcome to join the league, and you’re not going to be put up against a guy that’s been throwing 30 years or something like that,” he said.

Shu makes sure teams on similar levels play each other, and reevaluating is done at the beginning of each season. Involvement varies per season, but Shu said typically there’s 10-12 teams of five to 12 people.

“It doesn't really get too terribly competitive,” he said. “It’s just all about getting together and drinking some beer and socializing. That’s how it really got started.”

Each year, there is a fall and spring league, where all the teams with similar levels of experience compete with each other at the various bars. There are also “blind draw” nights between seasons, where everyone’s name is put in a hat and competitions are chosen at random. 

Shu said each competition during the season lasts about two hours, where teams face each other in matches of different singles and doubles styles of throwing.

“It’s [for] work colleagues, friends. We’ve got a team that’s basically all family and cousins that just come out and throw,” Shu said. “Then there was a group of public defenders for a while. … It’s a lot of fun.”

Because he and his friends on his team are getting older, Hammond said they chose darts as a more relaxed way to compete that didn't involve so much physical activity.

“This is our night out to socialize during the work week,” he said. “We all, as a group, need that.”

Hammond learned it can be beneficial to drink while playing and “he gets a little better and more relaxed,” up until a point. Shortly after that, he joked, it goes downhill, but it’s still fun.

“Everybody has a good time, there’s never any arguments or fights. Obviously, everybody wants to see everyone throw well. If someone throws better than you in a game, it’s just like, ‘oh well, I’ll get another beer,’” Shu said. 

Some people practice and strategize all the time to get better, Shu said, but others just come out to the bar for games, and that’s the only time they ever throw. 

Shu said the best advice he ever got was from a pro who beat him in under 5 minutes. When he asked him for tips, Shu said the pro looked him dead in the eyes and simply said “aim.”

“Everybody always dies laughing when I say that [story], but it really does help. I talk about it all the time. A lot of it is about sightline and putting that dart into it,” Shu said.

As long as teams hit the board every once in a while, he added, or as long as they don't hit the wall, it’s still a good time. 

“Really, it’s sort of a big social league,” he said. “If you win, you win. If you lose, you try to go and win the next one.”

To make a team, all people have to do is find a “home bar” or restaurant willing to put up dartboards and host the team’s competitions twice a month.

Individuals are also encouraged to sign up. Shu said he gets emails from interested people all the time and based on their location and skill level, Shu puts them on a team he thinks they would enjoy. Usually people show up early before throwing nights to grab a beer and get to know their team or opponents. 

Shu said the Dart League is hoping to add more teams in the upcoming season.

To sign up or learn more, go to birminghamdarts.com.