Bullseye for UL darts player
Self-taught darts player Prudence Hlatswayo says darts is more than just a game, it is meditation and demands focus.
POLOKWANE – Prudence is a student at the University of Limpopo (UL) and started to play darts in 2019. She says she watched YouTube videos and asked other players for assistance to learn the game.
“Before I joined the UL team I never had a mentor and would watch videos online. These videos helped me master the different skills and tricks within the game and that’s how I became good enough to represent the university,” she says.
Prudence tells BONUS her interest in the game stemmed from a darts club invitation poster that her former teammate Tumisho Mathabati placed on an UL notice board.
“I was curious, read the poster and asked him questions. I enrolled in the club and started to practise everyday. I played among strong, passionate and self-driven individuals who motivated me. This made me love the sport even more,” she explains.
Prudence says the sport was not difficult to learn and it requires you to be good with numbers, have accurate aim and practise often.
Her biggest achievement thus far was participating in the 2019 South Africa Darts National Championships, hosted at the Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha.
Prudence says darts has taught her to be patient and not allow distractions or external factors to determine her character. She says some challenges the UL darts team face include inadequate resources and equipment as well as a lack of information regarding trials or competitions.
“We also need an active and experienced coach to handle the training and administration of the sport,” she adds. Without an experienced coach, the team have taken it upon themselves to teach new members how to play.
“Potential and passion is evident among us. Before lockdown, we conducted our own internal trials and competed among ourselves. We even planned to approach the TUT darts team to enter into competition with us,” she says.
Prudence says the team wants to participate in the 2022 South Africa National Darts Championships.
