With the WDF-ranked Oregon Open just a week away, this is the perfect time for this post…

As many of you know, the Oregon Open will not only be run according to ADO rules, but to WDF rules also. However, this seems to confuse a lot of people, and many ask why we should be having to abide by rules of a different body? The thing that many don’t get is that the WDF is the ADO’s boss!

WDF stands for “World Darts Federation”, and the term “World” is an indicator or the fact that the WDF is actually the world’s official governing body for steel-tip darts. As such, the WDF organizes a number of major events, including the Americas Cup, the World Cup, the World Masters, and the World Championship. The American Darts Organization is the official governing body for steel-tip darts in the US – as recognized by the WDF, of whom the ADO is a member.

Now, as far as domestic tournaments go, the WDF allows us to implement our own rules for these events, in the same way that the ADO allows our member clubs to run leagues and domestic tournaments according to their own rules. It’s only when an tournament is ADO-sanctioned, that they have to strictly adhere to ADO rules. The same when ADO tournaments are sanctioned by the WDF. The important thing to remember is that this applies to WDF-sanctioned events ONLY, which are the men’s and women’s 501 singles, and the youth 501 singles (where applicable). The rest of the tournament is run only to ADO rules.

Now, the most obvious WDF rules include a dress code, and no drinking DURING matches. Yes, people question these, but WDF sanctioning is not designed for small bar shoots, more for professional-level tournaments that qualify Americans for international professional events, such as the aforementioned World Masters, and World Championship. Virtually ALL major sports have some kind of dress code at the top levels, so why should darts be any different? You don’t see tennis players and golfers chugging beers while they are competing, so why dart players? Understandably, these rules are just there to improve the image of the sport and its players.

If players continue to ignore these rules (as some have done), there is a good chance that the WDF will take action against us, and that would likely include the stripping of WDF-sanctioning for the tournaments. Yes, we would lose the ranked tournaments that provide our players with the chance to compete in the majors. Is that really what you want? Do you want to hurt the players who put in the time, effort, and money into an attempt to qualify for these major events? Remember, you’re not just hurting everybody else in the room, you’re hurting yourself; YOU could be one to qualify.

Of course, there are only a very small handful of “professional” players in the US, but don’t let that fool you; these tournaments are for EVERYONE. It’s not just the usual group of household names who benefit from these events, and there have been many, many unfamiliar names who have qualified for international play. Dale McInnis, Dan Moore, Michael Walters, Frank Hernandez, Dave Stockman, Steve Anderson, Patrick Kithi, Bonnie Wei, Melissa Jalbert, and Jo-Anne Anderson are just a few of the players who have represented the US in the World Masters!

Players can qualify for the World Masters and World Championship without even attempting to participate in our National Playoffs. This is achieved by accumulating sufficient points on the WDF World Ranking Tables, or by winning a WDF-ranked singles. The more WDF tournaments we have, the greater the opportunity for players to qualify. Take this year’s World Masters, for example. There will be fourteen to sixteen Americans (men, women, and youth) who will receive a free trip to compete (thanks to qualifying from our playoffs), and there are likely to be at least a dozen more in attendance who qualified through the WDF systems!

Last year, Jules Van Dongen and Paula Murphy won the singles at the Seacoast Open – which secured them a spot at the Lakeside World Championship! Leonard Gates and Kevin Luke also competed thanks to the WDF rankings.

Most local darts associations claim that one of their main objectives is to “promote” the sport of darts. The ADO is the same, and there is no better way to promote the sport than encourage our players to compete internationally at the highest level. That is why we are in the WDF, and that is why the WDF matters to American players…

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