The quality of Collie darts will be on show next month, with seven local players selected to represent the state at the under 25 national championships next month.
Trevor Turvey, Milton Northover, Connor Stallard, Josh Franks, Dion Cashmore, Aiden Wallis and Boston Turvey will all make the trip to Perth to compete in the championships from November 6 to 11.
Team mentor Lee Chapman said the selections showed the strength of the competition in Collie.
“Collie is the strongest association, definitely in terms of the country associations, around the state,” he said.
“We’ve got about 120 players across eight teams that are playing each week and there’s a lot of good players coming through the ranks.
“It’s a good result for all of the boys to be picked to represent the state.”
Chapman said he was expecting the Collie players would fare strongly at the tournament.
“I’m expecting them to do well,” he said.
“We’ve got a couple who should do really well in the singles and as long as everyone turns up and plays their darts the right way, the teams will do well too.”
Two members of the team – Trevor Turvey and Josh Franks – will making their second trip to the championships after competing at last year’s event in Melton, Victoria.
Turvey came runner-up in the singles competition and said he was looking to go one better this year.
“The guy that won it last year, he’s too old now so I think I’m a good chance,” he said.
“I’ll just go up there and play my darts.
“All you can do is just focus on the dartboard and just play your darts.”
Franks said he felt returning to the competition for a second year would give him a slight advantage.
“Last year I didn’t do too well because I was really nervous,” he said.
“Definitely I think this year I’ll go a bit better because the nerves won’t be as bad.”
To qualify for the tournament, all of the players had to compete at the state championships in September.
At the state championships, one of the Collie teams – featuring Stallard, Trevor Turvey, Franks and Boston Turvey – finished runner-up in division two, while the other – featuring Northover, Cashmore and Wallis, along with Adam Johnson – claimed the division three title.
