East Antrim players to compete in Junior darts World Cup

Young darts players who compete out of a Carrickfergus-based club will be representing Northern Ireland at this year’s Junior Darts Corporation (JDC) World Cup and World Championships.
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The events, which are due to be held in Gibraltar at the Europa Point Sports Complex, will take place from November 22 until November 25.

The World Cup Team event will start the competitions off, followed by the JDC Gibraltar Open, the Michael van Gerwen (MVG) Masters and then the Holiday Inn Express JDC World championships.

A team of four teens will represent Northern Ireland, with all four players coming from the Carrickfergus Junior Darts Academy.

Jake Sproule, Jack Campbell, Ryan Fowles and Craig Murtagh will be representing Northern Ireland.Jake Sproule, Jack Campbell, Ryan Fowles and Craig Murtagh will be representing Northern Ireland.
Jake Sproule, Jack Campbell, Ryan Fowles and Craig Murtagh will be representing Northern Ireland.

The players are Team Captain Jake Sproule (17), Jack Campbell (17), Ryan Fowles (15) and Craig Murtagh (15).

Carrickfergus Junior Darts Academy (JDA) held its first session in January 2020 after being established at the end of 2019.

The JDA was formed by postman and on-call firefighter, Gregg Fowles, alongside his wife, his sister-in-law and her husband.

For more information about the east Antrim club, read here

The World Cup team will be managed by Gregg.

Commenting ahead of the events, Gregg said: “The 2022 Championship is set to be the biggest ever. Australia and New Zealand have confirmed their teams along with all the home nations. They will be joined by the highest quality of players from Europe, North America and hosts Gibraltar. There will be around 200 players heading to ‘the rock’ in late November.

“The quality of youth darts at this present moment in time is staggering. At last year’s Championships it saw 90 plus averages and even a nine-dart leg. Simply upstanding from players at such a young age.

“Everyone associated with the team is absolutely delighted for them, no more so than me.”

Thanking everyone who has supported the players, Mr Fowles added: “It is a massive honour to represent your country, but it does come at some cost to the team. With travel, accommodation and competition fees, it costs over £800 per player to be part of this fantastic event. That said, this opportunity is for some of the team a once in a lifetime experience.

“The team have had fantastic support from family and friends and along with local businesses they are chipping away at the costs involved. The team have also been helped by the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.

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“Team Northern Ireland are very much looking forward to this year’s events and can’t wait to showcase their talents on the biggest stage possible.”

For more information, check out the Carrickfergus Junior Darts Academy Facebook page.