The 28th FORMULA Australian Junior Darts Championships were opened at 10.00am. South Australian Darts Council MC Gary Nicolescu welcomed everyone and introduced the dignitaries in attendance. Mayor Martin Lindsell, Betty Hislop DFA and SADC President Mavis Nicholson.
South Australian Darts Council Vice - President welcomed all players' officials and supporters to Central Districts Football Club in Adelaide. He highlighted thanking the parents that have come here to support their children. He thanked the Central Districts Football Club for allowing us to us the facilities to conduct these championships. He especially congratulated all players that have been selected to represent their state. He also thanked Mark Edwards and his Committee on the great job in organising these Championships.
The Mayor of Playford Martin Lindsell then welcomed everyone to Elizabeth and the Central Districts Darts Club. He noted the pressure on the young players just walking around the room and wished them all well. He told everyone of the success of the local football club whose venue we were using winning seven of the last nine premierships.
Introduced next was Betty Hislop, Darts Federation of Australia Vice President. She also welcomed everyone to the 28th Formula Australian Junior Darts Championships and wished them all the very best of luck. She stressed the importance of fair play and sportsmanship, playing with the right spirit and in particular to enjoy themselves, make some new friends and have fun. She thanked the South Australian Darts Council for all of their hard work at making these a great Championship. She also highlighted that a female and male player will be selected at the end of these Championships to represent Australian Youth Darts at the World Cup in Charlotte North Carolina USA at the end of September and a Youth Team will be named to represent at the Arafura Games in Darwin in May.
The Parade of Flags followed:
The flag bearers were:
Australian Flag
Craig Atze [L] representing the host State and
Dart Federation of Australia Flag
Peter Machin [R] representing the Darts Federation of Australia and Australian Senior Team
New South Wales
Kayla Holland and
Guy Holland
Northern Territory
Jackson Young and
Bryce Slade
Queensland
Leah McNicol and
Stuart Wright
South Australia
Courtney Bren and
Bradley Vine
Tasmania
Lauren Seabourne and
Liam Philpott
Victoria
Sarah Brown and
Michael Cassar
Western Australia
Teagan Wyatt and
Gavin Dann
12 year old Layla McCormack was introduced and she proudly sang the National Anthem.
MC then indicated to the players that their darts fly straight and true and remember that darts always starts with a hand shake and ends with a hand shake. Good luck to you all.
As with the tradition of all Australian Darts Championships Mayor Lindsell was asked to officially open the Championships by throwing the first three darts. He stated that he had not thrown darts since his earlier years when in the air force where he played regularly. He was handed the darts to throw at the board on the main stage. He officially opened the games and two of the three darts finishing in the scoring zone.