After a valiant effort by all the Alberta Youth team members, they were unable to catch up with Ontario to win the Gold.

Awesome job everyone!

Check back for full results next week.

This afternoon in St. John's Dawson Murschell headed on stage, with his partner Jessica Weatherly for a chance at the Triple Crown. But another youth lady was heading to the Senior Mixed Doubles Final with the same goal in mind. Unfortunately for Dawson, it was Ontarian Oshie Watson with her partner that won the prestigous triple crown honor.

Logan Crooks and Emilee Gillcrist were on stage in the Junior Mixed Doubles and also earned the Silver Medal.

About now, everyone is getting ready for the Awards Banquet where the Canada Cup results are revealed. Stay tuned Alberta!

Two firsts and two seconds! Logan Crooks made it out of his section and finished in the top 8 in the Junior Male Singles. Congratulations to Matyna Gutfreund for winning the Silver Medal in the Senior Female Singles.

Dawson Murschell is on a roll with not only his second Gold Medal of the 2013 Youth Nationals but he also went on to win the World Cup Qualifier in the second event today to head back to Newfoundland in October. In the qualifier finals, Dawson beat out his teammate Logan Crooks. 

A big thanks to our Youth Director, Tammy Murschell, for keeping us updated on the results.

Article by Sandi Orr

Both Alberta Male Teams were on stage in the Finals on day one of the Youth National Championships held in St. John's Newfoundland today.

Although the Junior Male team put up a great fight, they weren't able to snag the Gold Medal away from Ontario. Congratulations to Logan Crooks and Nate Sheppard for achieving the Silver medal.

The Senior Male Doubles team had a challenging day and although they shot awesome, they had to play a five-way playoff for first place to make it through their section. After that, it was game on! Congratulations goes out to Dawson Murschell and Nikolas McNair for taking out the home team from Newfoundland to achieve the title of the 2013 Senior Male Doubles Champions!

In spite of trying their hardest, the junior and senior female teams didn't advance from their sections.

Way to go Alberta! We're all cheering for you back home here!

Article by Sandi Orr

We will again be accepting Elite Registrations for the 2013 Pro Am at the Rodeo City Open. See Poster for more details. Please see our Secretary, Lesley Johnston.

Only registrations for those on the Elite List will be accepted.

If you won't be attending the Rodeo, please print and mail in your registration.

WDF Singles Event Winners	View Full results
Clover Arndt 2013 Silver Cup WDF Singles Champion	Dawson Murschell 2013 Silver Cup WDF Singles Champion
Silver Cup Singles Event Winners
From Left to right: Sr. Girls Champion:  Matyna Gutfreund, Medicine Hat Sr.  Boys Champion: Dawson Murschell, Medicine Hat Jr. Boys Champion:   Logan Crooks, Strathmore Jr. Girls Champion:   Clover Arndt, Saskatoon.

Photos courtesy of Bill Hatter

It is definitely Darts Alberta's year for exceptional performance! Almost half of the top 16 men on the April 30, 2013 ranking list are from Alberta. Congratulations, goes out to Norm Tremblay, Terry Hayhurst, Shaun Narain, Kenny MacNeil, Jeff Howard, Dion LaViolette and Gerald Gillcrist. The women's showing was also great with 3 of the top 16 from Alberta. Way to go Cindy Hayhurst, Ivy Wieshlow and Crystal Brazil. A job well done Alberta!

A special congrats goes out to Cindy Hayhurst. As the #1 woman on the ranking list, Cindy has automatically earned a place on the 2013 World Cup Team. As a Newfoundlander, what a great moment to be playing the World Cup on home soil in St. John's!

For the rest of the top 16, they will each have the opportunity to join Cindy on the World Cup team by earning eligibility in the World Cup Qualifier that is held on the Friday following the National Championships. Because our Provincial Champions have earned a place on the team or entry into the qualifiers, the next eligible players from the Provincial Team (that haven't already qualified) also earn the right to compete in the qualifier as the Alberta representative. Congratulations Jim Edwards and Linda Ledingham.

For the full ranking list results go to www.ndfc.ca.

It’s no doubt that the Alberta youth are not to be underestimated. This past weekend in the men’s singles, Dawson Murschell beat out fellow Albertan Jim Edwards to advance to the finals. In the final, Dawson gave Bryce Book a run for his money but just couldn’t take over the title from the reigning Singles Champion in a 5-3 victory for Bryce.

Dawson came back with the same determination in the Salmon Harvest Youth WDF Ranked Singles event where he checked out a 116 finish against teammate Logan Crooks to win the finals match 4-1.

Dawson & Logan went on to finish Joint 5th in the Men’s Doubles. Both Dawson and Logan will be challenging contenders at the upcoming 2013 Youth Nationals.

Congratulations to Jim Edwards and Scott Lemoine for winning the 2013 Salmon Harvest Men’s Doubles. The Alberta team was victorious over Bill Hammond Jr. (BC) and Bill St. Croix (NL).

Logan Crooks and Dawson Murschell Photo courtesy of Todd Strickland	Jim Edwards and Scott Lemoine Photo courtesy of Jim Edwards

Article by Sandi Orr

April 21 to 27 is National Volunteer Week. Darts Alberta is very fortunate to have not only a dedicated Board of Volunteer Directors but also hundreds of individuals throughout the province that volunteer with youth darts, dart leagues and more! Whether you spend tens of hours every week or just an hour a month, hats off to all the dart volunteers throughout Alberta. Without you our organization would not be as successful as it is.

If you know a dart volunteer, take a few minutes this week to say "thank you for everything you do"!

As part of the new Alberta Sport Recreation Parks and Wildlife Foundation’s funding requirement, Darts Alberta developed a 3-year Strategic Plan based on critical issues identified. As not every issue can be addressed in the next 3 to 5 years, it was essential to narrow down the list to focus on the most critical ones.

The following 7 key strategic priorities were established:

• Youth Program Development
• Darts Alberta Ranked Tournaments
• Coach Development
• Member Relations
• Succession Planning
• Organization Effectiveness
• Self-sustainability

Members are encouraged to view the full Strategic Plan. If you have any suggestions on ways these strategies can be accomplished or if you are interested in becoming involved on one of the many sub-committees that will be formed, please contact Sandi Orr (administrator@dartsalberta.com).

Our AB boys, Jeff Howard and Gerald Gillcrist, took top honours at the Main Event in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan this past weekend.

Jeff "The Terminator" Howard bested Gerald "The Guillotine" Gillcrist to take the $1,000 prize.

Other Top finishes of the weekend went to:
Cindy Hayhurst - 1st in Ladies Singles
Cindy Hayhurst and Terry Hayhurst - 1st in Mixed Doubles
Dion Laviolette and Terry Hayhurst - 1st in Men's Doubles
 

Jeff Howard, Champion, with Gerald Gillcrist, runner up

Full details and photos can be found on the Saskatchewan Darts website

One of the things we heard from members at the 2013 AGM was to include more photos from the ranked tournaments. Click on the link for the 2013 Medicine Hat Open results. Congratulations to the winners:
 

Men's Singles Champion - Shaun Narain (Runner-up - Gerald Gillcrist)	Women's Singles Champion - Cindy Hayhurst, with Runner-up Crystal Brazil
Men's Doubles Champions - Darryl Chiasson & Scott Collins	Women's Doubles Champions - Ivy Wieshlow & Andrea Sansom

Photos: Courtesy of Tammy Murschell
Photos from other events can be found by checking out the Photo Gallery link.

On behalf of the Youth Team Alberta I would like to thank everyone who donated  to the "Hoodie Drive".
$847.55 was raised and therefore all hoodies will be paid for in full by donations. Pictures will be posted as soon as we have the hoodies!! The kids thank you all!

Tammy Murschell
Youth Director

Congratulations to the youth who attended our AGM and participated in the 2013 Youth AGM Singles Event. Although not always the most exciting of discussions, we appreciate all the Youth Members that attended the Annual General Meeting. We hope it provides you with the opportunity to learn how your organization operates. Please remember that even as an under 18 member that isn't allowed to vote, you are able to ask questions and participate in discussion. You can also provide ideas and suggestions to your Youth Director throughout the year, especially if you have ideas on how we can increase youth participation in the sport.

2013 AGM JUNIOR FEMALE PLACEMENT
1st  Emilee Gillcrist
2nd  Courtney Kane
Joint 3rd  Jenna Kane
Joint 3rd  Tori Doughty
5th  Zealia Green

2013 AGM JUNIOR MALE PLACEMENT
1st  Logan Crooks
2nd  Nicolas Murschell
Joint 3rd   Nathaniel Sheppard
Joint 3rd  Riley Osmond

2013 AGM SENIOR FEMALE PLACEMENT
1st  Matyna Gutfreund
2nd  Abbigale Hatter
Joint 3rd  Jessica Weatherly
Joint 3rd  Jessa Laplante
5th  Felicia Boychuk

2013 AGM SENIOR MALE PLACEMENT
One participant, but chose to participate in the Men's Singles event to gain further competitive experience!

Congratulations to this year's Winners of the Darts Alberta Member League Doubles Championships. Each of the players has won a paid trip to the 2014 Greater Vancouver Open.

Women's Doubles: Linda Ledingham (CPDA) and Linda Wilder (CPDA), Calgary

Men's Doubles: Scott Collins (MHDL), Medicine Hat and Gerald Gillcrist (ECDLA), Edmonton

Congratulations to the 2013  Women's Singles and Men's Singles winners.
Cindy Hayhurst ($400) and Jeff Howard ($400)

Each year is becomes increasing challenging to find a venue with a sufficient number of permanent boards to host both the Adult and Youth AGM Shoot held in conjunction with the League Doubles Championship and the Annual General Meeting.

In order to try to provide a more central location, rather than moving it back and forth between Edmonton and Calgary, all of these events have been moved to the Ponoka Legion. In additional to the 22 permanent boards, an additional 8 boards will be set up in the banquet area for the AGM shoot.

Download the AGM poster and agenda.

The doors open at the Ponoka Legion on Sunday at 9 a.m. and a Breakfast Special will be available for purchase.

Congratulations to the 2013 Youth Team Alberta !

Good luck at the Youth Nationals which will be held in St. John's, NL, May 17-19, 2013

* alternate

The following awards were presented:

Senior Male Most Sportsmanlike Player: Nikolas McNair

Senior Female Most Sportsmanlike Player: Jessa LaPlante

Junior Male Most Sportsmanlike Player: Nicolas Murschell

Junior Female Most Sportsmanlike Player: Tori Doughty