When many people think of darts, they picture overweight middle-aged men throwing arrows with one hand and holding a pint in the other in a smoky pub. While parts of that image still ring true, darts is more popular than ever - especially with the rise of young talent like Luke Littler inspiring a whole new generation to pick up their tungsten. In fact, we now have three 15-year-olds in our teams!

Darts has long been a favourite in the pubs and clubs of Leiston and the surrounding area. The LTAA has fielded at least one team in the local league since the late 1960s and at one point had three teams. The B team was formed by Joe Hall in 1970, who later started a C team in 1988 when another wave of young players decided to toe the oche. Stephen Asford, Shaun Emmerson and Lee Newson were part of that newly formed C team as teenagers, and all still play at the LTAA today.

Lee Newson went on to play in the super league and represented Suffolk at county level an impressive 69 times. Current vice-captain Dick Hall also joined the LTAA B team in the 80s (then run by his father, Joe Hall) as a youngster and eventually captained the team for many years before handing over the reins to me in 2019.

Today, the LTAA has two teams and competes in a league of ten teams that play every Friday night from September to April. The LTAA also hosts a summer Grand Prix series from May through August. It’s the perfect place to get your first taste of local competitive darts - whether you’re young or not so young! Who knows… you might even be the next “Luke the Nuke”!

LTAA Darts Team News