Darts could help math skills
Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Feb 23/01) - Taking up darts does more than improve your aim.
It also does wonders for your math abilities, says Julie Candow, co-ordinator of youth for the Inuvik Dart League.
"I'll score for them, but they have to tell me what they scored," explained Candow, who started up a Youth Dart League last fall.
"It's up to them to add up their scores. I don't care if it takes 10 minutes to figure it out," Candow said.
"It makes a big difference, 'cause when you hit a triple 19 you have to know what it is right away."
Between six and 16 players from the ages of 12-18 take part in sessions at the Legion Saturdays from 1-3 p.m.
Candow said she usually splits the kids up into two groups.
Her brother, Sean Rafferty, takes charge of those players with some dart experience, and Candow takes the others.
Candow, who at one time played youth darts herself, said the kids often play games or exercises designed to help players become good at certain things, as opposed to constantly worrying about scores.
At the end of the session, Candow and Rafferty often take part in games with the youth.
The league will probably go until April, and at that time Candow hopes to have a tournament, in which each young player will be paired with an adult player.
Candow said that youth dart leagues in the south mirror the adult ones.
"Each community has their own league, and then they have playoffs and they do provincials, and they also go to nationals."
She added there is no youth dart league in the NWT. However, next year Candow hopes to have some kids from here go on to the nationals.
Candow said so far everything's been going good.
With a laugh, however, she said, "I'd like to see some girls come out; I don't have any."
