Darts takes off as a new career path

• Published in: Daily telegraph (London, England : 1969)
• Main Author: ANDREW BAKER IN WOLVERHAMPTON
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Daily Telegraph 24.11.2007
• ISSN: 0307-1235

"It's rare for a week to go by without a tournament to play in," McDine said. "Even if they're not major events, the winner can pick up pounds 5,000- pounds 6,000." Which is perhaps why we are beginning to witness the rise of a new phenomenon: the Darts Dad. "I got told by my mum and dad that I was going to play for a living," McDine said. "By the time I was 12 they could tell I could play a bit. I used to play my brother for a pound a leg until I beat him 15-0. After that my parents just drilled it into my head that this was what I was going to do. It worked, didn't it?" Although he puts the hours in every day at the practice board, McDine is more lively extrovert than darting automaton. "He's a good young professional," [Barry Hearn] observed. "But like a lot of these boys, he's a real person who real people can relate to. In 10 years' time they might all be saying, 'Talk to my agent', and disappearing into limos, but right now you can just walk up to them and have a chat. That's what the fans like."