Vintage

"The Big Easy - Darin Young"

By Jay Tomlinson

When I first met Darin Young, I knew right away why he was such a good darts player. He could lean over and practically stick the darts into the board wherever he wanted. I strained my neck trying to look into his eyes when I asked him for an interview, and I’m no short fellow either. I couldn’t believe it when he said he had to stand on a chair to retrieve his darts when he was 7 or 8 years old. Anyway, that took us straight to how he started playing darts. Like most kids, Darin was interested in what his parents were up to, and what they were up to was baseball. Not the traditional baseball with a bat, ball and bases, but the baseball that’s played with widdy darts and a wooden dartboard. It’s called American Darts and that’s what the folks played back then in White Haven, Pennsylvania, where Young is from. In fact, American Darts is still regularly played in Eastern PA, Maryland and South New Jersey. For the most part, American Darts (widdy darts) is pretty well unheard of around the rest of the country.

But that game was the seed that sprouted Young’s interest in darts. “Mom had an American dartboard in the house and she played in a league when I was 7 or 8. I shot a little bit back then, not serious of course. But when I was about 14 or 15, I started learning the games and understood what was going on,” explained Young.

When Young was around 19, he learned about English style darts. “I was dating a girl just out of high school and her parents owned a bar,” reminisced Young. “Of course they had dartboards in there, and though I wasn’t old enough to go in the bar to drink, I was allowed in there during the day. I would go in and meet with a couple of local players like Michael Abboud, Greg Jones, and Joe Haganey. Back then, they were American dart players, and I’d meet up with them and play some widdy darts. Then electronic darts became a pretty big phenomenon locally, and they started traveling playing electronic darts. They started little luck of the draws at the bar, and I started playing electronic
darts. I really got into that and started traveling a little bit. I played a little bit with Joe (Haganey), Mike (Abboud) and Greg (Jones). I mostly played with Greg, for a couple of years. He really helped me out. At that time, he was one of the better shots around and he lived in the same town I did, White Haven, PA. It was just convenient, I guess, to play darts regularly with him because he was close and was probably one of the best shots in the country at that time. He just didn’t get any recognition because he never really
traveled much. Of course, he was married and had kids and his priorities were a little different. That was a dozen years ago.”

So that’s how his love of the game began, and he was a natural. He is a natural at most things. He loves to hunt and fish. In fact, it’s probably a toss up as to whether he prefers hunting to throwing darts. Of course, he makes more money throwing darts. But the thrill of whitetail hunting, small game hunting like rabbits, pheasants and grouse still pulls him from the dartboards during the season. He hasn’t been out West to do big game hunting for elk, moose or mule deer, but he would probably jump at the chance if offered.
Fishing is another of his favorite past times. He’s an outdoors guy, living in the country where it’s quiet. He lives right by the Lehigh River in the Pocono Mountains where the trout run thick. “I don’t get to fish as much as I used to, but it’s a lot of fun. You get out there with a fly rod and there are times in the summer when you are the only one on the river for as far as you can see and you can catch fish one right after another. I like trout and bass fishing, and occasionally, I go to Canada for a week of walleye and pike fishing. But I have to say with the convenience of the river right there by the house, I do more trout fishing than any other kind.”

For those young ladies out there who think Darin might be a good catch himself, sorry, he is spoken for. He is engaged and plans to marry this summer to his sweetheart Jeneen, who he has been with for 6 1/2 years. He met her through her brother, who just happens to be Johnny Kuczynski. Darin and Jeneen have a son, Ryan, who is 4 1/2 and already is following dad’s footsteps, attending local dart tournaments that they can drive to and making friends with all the players. When asked if Jeneen supports his dart enthusiasm, the answer is a resounding yes.

Does Darin like to bring his young son and fiancée to tournaments? “Well, I have so much fun when I come to the dart tournaments and everyone I meet is so nice. It is like a big family. Oh, and Jeneen loves for me to play darts. She does not stop me playing darts. She actually encourages me to play darts. She likes to play darts herself occasionally. That’s why she likes to come. She has a lot of friends at tournaments. We bring our son with us, and 100 people in the dart hall look after him. If he needs cookies, soda, whatever,
everyone is willing to help out. People at tournaments are just real good people and they have real good times, and for the most part, I do not think they are there for the prize money. They are just there to see their friends and have a good time.”

That statement provides a bit of insight into Young’s demeanor on the line. Nothing much fazes him. American widdy darts, electronic darts, English darts, it doesn’t matter to Young. “It is just darts. You are playing darts. Electronic soft-tip is just a different form of darts from steel-tip, but I play widdy darts too, and that is a very different form of darts. I mean it is just darts.”

Young practices regularly, but his practice routine is not set in stone, or even penciled in on the calendar. It just happens when he has the time and feels like he needs to stay sharp for an up and coming event. “Yes, I do practice,” said Young. “I play the widdy darts a couple nights a week. Yes, as I said, it’s totally unlike steel darts, but it is still shooting darts. It is
still the form of shooting darts. I think it still gives you the stroke, and I still get the rhythm of shooting darts on the competition level of the league. Of course, it is not on the same competition level as competing in a tournament, but it still keeps me sharp. I do practice the steel darts now. We just built a new house and moved in a couple months ago. I put the dartboard up and Johnny (Kuczynski) comes over and we practice together. Those are good practice nights.”

“But I do not have a regular routine on a daily basis," continued Young. "I mean if I have some spare time and can get in a half hour or hour, I will go up in the rec room and shoot some darts, put in a little practice. But, if I had time - I mean it is not like an every day thing at a certain time. No, I do not have a certain game or regular routine that I practice.”

When asked if he thinks he might be half again as good as he is if he did practice every day for 4 hours or so, he was quite sure of his answer. “I have to say that it would have to help. I mean you would have to get a little better stroke and little bit more feel for the dart. When I compete at the tournaments, I put a lot of practice in when I am there. I like to get up early and get down to the hall and shoot a bit and try to stay lose in between matches.
I think it helps me play better than if I came in cold without practicing a little before the event starts. But, I think it is more of a mental state for me. I do not want to degrade practicing, but once you get to a high level of playing, you get a feel for the game and you know how to play. It is just a matter of mental state. I mean, if you feel confident that you are going to hit what you are shooting for, there is no better chance of hitting it. If you
feel like your dart is not going to go in and you just wing it, there’s very little chance it will go in. So, for me, I think it is more a mental thing, feeling confident. If I feel good with my game and I feel like I’m putting a good stroke on the dart, I feel confident that I’m going to make the shot.”

Darin Young has to be considered at the pro level in the United States. He made the top 5 in both the 501 and cricket BEN Pro Rankings for North American players in 2003. At that level, it is really tough for North American players to get to the next level, the level of where the English professionals are playing, without a whole lot of practice. Pointing this out, he basically agreed, but had this to say about the English pros.

“You know, I think they are very talented and they do play on a more serious level than the American players. Most of the tournaments here in North America, like the Pennsylvania Open, have a lot of players there just to have fun and get out of the house. It’s just like a hobby. If you compare that with the British players who play darts more for a lifestyle, there’s no comparison. I mean that is what they do. They shoot a lot more darts, practice a lot more, and they compete against one another. They live darts. That elevates their game to the next level. They are top quality players, but I think the Americans could definitely compete with the British if we had the same opportunities, the right systems and players. Talent wise I think it’s close. It’s just a matter of the right people getting the right frame of mind and playing longer games for more money. They (the British pros) have more confidence in their game than we Americans do because of their experience of being on the television regularly and the need to perform, constantly. We do not get that kind of
recognition in the United States.”

“We do have the Desert Classic here in Las Vegas which is a big tournament, longer format, televised, and it is one to look forward to. Anyone can enter and you get to play against the best players in the world. You get 4 chances to make the televised stage matches and the games are longer. I went out there last year in July for the first time and I played really well. I played some very good darts against some really great players. I knew these guys were the best players in the world and I still hung in the game. I wasn’t intimidated. I give myself a good chance in that kind of scenario. No, I didn’t get through, but I won money and I will most definitely be there again this year.” Could Young go pro and make a living strictly from playing darts? He probably could, but he would have to change his life style, compete more on the European circuit and give up much of his time at home…and there would be no guarantee that he could make a good living from darts. The money in North America is still not at a level necessary for players to take that enormous leap of faith. But they still dream. Darin dreams.

“I’ve never really thought about it seriously, but if I were to get a deal with a sponsorship where it would be feasible to just try to devote all my time to shooting darts, I would highly think about it. But right now as it is with a family to support, going professional is not feasible. Everyone knows that darts is never guaranteed money. If you are single, it may be a different story. I would have to have a guaranteed deal and a contract knowing exactly
how much money I would make going into it professionally so I would know that I could provide for my family and not have the stress of needing to win all the time. Stress of always having to win can, by itself, interfere with winning.” Right now, Young works with his father at their construction company. They do masonry, remodeling, and any kind of residential construction including sidewalks, patios, and foundations. Their work is seasonal, starting up in March and closing down just before rifle season opens for whitetail in late fall. His dad began the business over 45 years ago and Young started working with his father before he graduated from high school. They continued to build their business and they have been business partners for the past 6 or 7 years.

When asked which has a better payday, darts or construction, Young smiled and put it like this: “Oh, it all depends how good of a day I am having in darts. There’s good money in the construction business as anyone in the business knows. There are some jobs that a business can make a good deal of money on, and there are some jobs that are just not so good. It’s a lot easier making money shooting darts than laying block. Laying block is a little bit harder work and the back hurts a little more at the end of the day from laying block than shooting darts......unless Carver (Ray Carver) is having a bad day. Then my back hurts a little bit from shooting darts. (laughs) But I’ll tell you one thing, when he
(Carver) is on, he is one of the best partners you can have. It is very rare that he is having a bad day. I just had to throw a little dig in there for my little buddy.”

One of Young’s favorite tournaments is the BullShooter World Championship held in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend each year. The purse is $100,000 and Young seems to do well at that event more often than not, meaning it’s one he looks forward to each year. “I love playing at the Bullshooter. The prize money is pretty good, so it is a hard tournament to pass up. We used to play a lot of electronic darts, so it was a natural for me to go in the first place. Winning an event could mean a couple thousand dollars. Compare that to playing a steel event of a ten or fifteen thousand tournament where you can win only four or five hundred. That’s not bad, but it’s not $2,000 for winning. I have been fortunate to have done well there I guess. It’s always a good time with good people, and I always seem to get lucky there.”

So, is there a lot of luck in darts, or just a little bit of luck…or no luck at all? Young seems to think there has to be a little luck in the game. “I have to say there is a little bit of luck. If there isn’t any luck in darts, do you think Phil Taylor would ever lose? (laughs) I am not saying it is all good luck. There definitely has to be a little bit of bad luck mixed in with
the good.”

Politically, Young hasn’t paid much attention to who’s running things. He hasn’t had the need to…yet. But he says he would really like to get invited to play in the World Championships over the holidays and play for his country overseas. He has played for his country stateside at the BullShooter World Championship International Team event, and won, but going over seas to play would be a thrill. Qualifying for events that important will take Young down a path he hasn’t focused on yet…the political arena of darts and determining what he has to do in order to qualify for the international events each
organization hosts. Having the PDC, WDF, ADO, ADA, NDA, NDFC, BullShooter, Medalist and the WPDPA to learn about, it’s no wonder players like Young simply want to
focus on their darts and not the politics. Young’s attitude about the situation is just like his game, very easy going.

“I really do not follow a lot of the politics. I could not even tell you all the people that run all the organizations and associations. I just know that there are people that are trying to do good for the sport, devoting their time and money and I cannot say a bad thing about any of them. If it wasn’t for them, none of us would have the many opportunities we have now to play the game. The tournaments do not happen on their own. Someone has to put a lot of time and effort into them. I just think it is great that there are organizations and associations that put in the time and promotion to advance the sport.”

When Young has some down time, he likes to watch movies at home. They have Direct TV with over 190 channels. His son enjoys the cartoon movies, but Darin goes for action movies or comedies. He’s not real big on drama found on the Lifetime channel, but Jeneen gets to choose the movies too and they are invariably those on the Lifetime channel. “I’m a good sport though and sit through most of them. I like Eddie Murphy movies. He’s really funny. Robin Williams is another of my favorite actors. I think he is probably one of the best actors. He makes you laugh and then he plays some serious parts where he makes
you scared a little bit. I like Robert DeNiro too. I don’t really think I have a favorite actress. Of course I like the ones that are not so sore on the eyes and the ones that wear tight clothes. I guess they are my favorite actresses. Don’t tell Jeneen I said that. I’ll probably get yelled at. (laughs)”

“Really though, the only thing she yells at me for is golf. I live out in the country. It is pretty quiet. The golf course is about a mile from my house and it’s like an addiction. If you have never been golfing, you could say that it’s one game that doesn’t make any sense. You hit the ball, you chase it, and you hit it again. How much fun can that be? Well, if you play just one time and you make a good shot, that’s it. You’ll be hooked. Golf is a great game, and it just keeps growing. More and more people are taking to the courses, and they can’t build enough golf courses to keep up with the demand. It is fun though, and worth getting yelled at every now and then.” Young is a 7 or 8 handicapper and after talking with him, I found that I would have to be at my very best at whatever game we played. Maybe it’s better not to compete at all. “How about food, should we go for a bite to eat?” I
asked. “What kind of food do you like?” “Well, look at me,” he said. “I obviously like all kinds of food. You name it and I will eat it. My favorite is a great steak. You can’t beat a great steak.”

(End of Article)

Bull's Eye News Cover Story (Mar/Apr 2004) reprinted with permission of Bull's Eye News