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Walter Mswazie Sports Correspondent
MASVINGO province has formed a professional darts league to bring order to the indoor game.
Masvingo District Darts Association (MDDA) secretary general Charles Jones said despite having a lot of talented players, Masvingo had been lagging behind in terms of organisation.

He said there were many areas that needed to be addressed chief among them the issue of having a constitution, code of conduct and dress code for players.

Jones said they now have a league of 16 teams, brightening chances for some players to be selected for the national team.

“After seeing that there are a number of quality darts players, we thought of coming up with a professional league run along professional lines. The main aim of forming a league is for us to have direction and take the indoor games to the next level,” said Jones.

“Since we formed a league, a number of things have changed for the better. We’re starting to get interest from business people especially bar owners where we normally play our games. We’re presently working on ensuring that the rules of the game are followed and also want to improve on dress code,” he said.

“A player should dress formally with closed shoes because an arrow can fall and injure your bare foot. We also endeavour to have other venues away from beer halls in order to attract those who don’t drink beer,” he added.

Jones said the sport was not for those who drink alcohol only but for everyone.

“Darts can be played by anyone and in our league we should encourage participation through playing away from bars.  We’ve approached the city council over the issue so that we can hire some halls during tournaments as we also want ladies to take part,” said Jones.

The 16-team league comprises; Jerera Northend, Graceland, Benzi, Railstars, Great Zimbabwe Museum,4 Lions, Charandura, Snippers, Rujeko, A Team, Masvingo Christian, Chatsworth, Halfway and Bye.