Not too long ago I polled an Internet audience of people unfamiliar with darts and/or the dart community. The question - in short - asked people their opinions about how dart players are seen through the eyes of the general public. I was doing this in order to research how dart players wind up stereotyped.
Their general consensus was that when they saw people playing darts - other than on television - it appeared to be a casual affair. Just friends getting together for a few pints and a good time on the boards if you will. Barely any of those who responded viewed organized darts as a group of players being engaged in any serious competition whatsoever.
I was surprised to discover many people indicating that if all the players were dressed alike or "in uniform" for lack of a better term, they would of course perceive the game as something on more of an organized and competitive level.
Think about that for a moment. How many times have you been playing darts somewhere and another person in the venue walks through the dart area on the way to the restrooms? How about those who walk up and interrupt play? Perception may be the cause. Perhaps if everyone were wearing their matching dart shirts on each team one may decide to go around the dart area and NOT interrupt the match, having the perception that organized competition is in progress.
These discoveries lead me to believe that dart shirts are great for a team in that aspect as well as others. A teams sponsoring club can enjoy the advertising they get when their team wears their dart shirts to other events and venues. Plus it promotes the sport in the eyes of the public as well as the venues that support darts.
Returning to the subject of team names. Cool dart team names seem to create not only commendatory between players, but also tend to attract an audience. My 2008 summer league team for example was called "Big Tony's Madhouse Mafia". Our sponsoring pub (Big Tony's) is owned and operated by Italians. The madhouse of course refers to our teams ability to wind up on the double one.Our team always wore our matching dart shirts bearing our "Madhouse Mafia" logo, and of course included advertising for Big Tony's Grill and Sports Bar. Before week one was even over the wait staff wanted shirts. Before week two was done many of the regular patrons were ordering shirts. By seasons end, the entire bar was proudly wearing Madhouse Mafia dart shirts and rooting for us as the home team. EVERYBODY wanted to be a Mafia Member!
All in all a win-win situation in my opinion!
So what's your dart teams name? What are your creative ideas for a dart team name? Naturally, as one who creates dart shirts I am slowly creating a selection of designs bearing fun and unique dart team names, with hopes that dart players in leagues around the country may pick up on the benefits of wearing their team colors with pride. And perhaps even creating a better public view of dart players to the public at the same time!
