Unlikely as they'll have to pay their £3 or £4 admission money first ( including program) plus enough cash for 12 hours on the lash so the mobile will have to wait.Randall wrote:As long as someone present has paid their mobile bill.Mabbsy wrote:Stay calm lads, County will start again next month, live streams and TV coverage of the BDO's flagship event, oh hang on..................
Rout and ifm you mean.Mabbsy wrote:Unlikely as they'll have to pay their £3 or £4 admission money first ( including program) plus enough cash for 12 hours on the lash so the mobile will have to wait.Randall wrote:As long as someone present has paid their mobile bill.Mabbsy wrote:Stay calm lads, County will start again next month, live streams and TV coverage of the BDO's flagship event, oh hang on..................
Shame for the millions expecting to watch around the globe !
Randall wrote:Rout and ifm you mean.Mabbsy wrote:Unlikely as they'll have to pay their £3 or £4 admission money first ( including program) plus enough cash for 12 hours on the lash so the mobile will have to wait.Randall wrote:As long as someone present has paid their mobile bill.Mabbsy wrote:Stay calm lads, County will start again next month, live streams and TV coverage of the BDO's flagship event, oh hang on..................
Shame for the millions expecting to watch around the globe !
Ginge?Rogg wrote:So on Channel 4 last night, 2.6 million average audience for the women's Euro semi-final (football, England v Holland). Peak of 4+ million.
No doubt the World Professional Darts Championship achieved similar.
According to the howlers thread, for the final:Randall wrote:Ginge?Rogg wrote:So on Channel 4 last night, 2.6 million average audience for the women's Euro semi-final (football, England v Holland). Peak of 4+ million.
No doubt the World Professional Darts Championship achieved similar.
So absolutely nowhere near. Have panic attacks and say you can't compare the two, ok, but the BDO has brilliant history of losing all their broadcasters. Their place on any channel is always precarious, so I wonder what C4 will be making of it all.BARB overnights show that Channel 4 got an average 1.01m for the darts
The shrooms will be expecting ladies darts to grow now that ladies football have done ok and the cricketers won the world cup.Randall wrote:Ladies football > bdo darts
Dear Delegate,
This is an explanation to the proposal I have submitted.
I have enclosed a proposal that has gone into the BDO for their AGM this coming August 2017. It is quite a comprehensive document, but it is imperative that you read it and take on board what is included. I have sent this in as a county delegate and not Chairman of England, this proposal is about County Darts and the future of the BICC.
It would be easy for me to start apportioning blame towards certain people concerning the situation we are all experiencing in trying to run and finance our County teams and set ups, this is not what this exercise is about, as we have all have to take responsibility in this decline equally.
As we all know the BICC is struggling badly even the top County teams struggle to balance the books, for many years all counties ran coaches, booked hotels etc., many now cannot basically afford to do this.
The attendances are diminishing by the year, with only one match in the whole of the system attracting 200 plus people and the highest 280. There are over 60 matches in England, this season which have not had an attendance of 120 over two days, of which 25 had under 100 nearer 80, when you consider the players = 72+ officials players partners/friends, it is pretty damning to say the least.
The promotion of the BICC is more and more difficult, with many of the star names in our Counties choosing to play PDC darts in preference on the same weekends. How are we to promote our county matches when most of the star names, do not take part, and some of these players we actively encourage to do this, these same players who choose other avenues to expand their careers, and who, by definition, are the players who reap the benefits of the member’s money when it comes to the events held on TV, Lakeside, Winmau, World Darts Trophy etc.
It really is a sad state of affairs when International players tell you they are thinking of not playing County darts this coming season, because it will free up 9 x weekends to play the BDO tour events abroad, and PDC challenge Tour.
Whilst you cannot stop the players exerting freedom of choice to do what they like, nevertheless, we should put in place a system which could at least encourage them to remain and support the BICC.
I hear a lot about “The players”, but I say what players? Re they the relatively few who can afford to go around the world to tour events, or are they the 14,000+ players, that we as county officials represent?
We see the BDO concentrating their efforts and finance into events for the few, with no discernible effort in the promotion of the BICC
Where is there any monthly promotion of the County matches? Inclusive of all the divisions,
Where is there any finance put into the Counties, to encourage players to remain in our system?
The BDO website last year had on its main page a blanket promotion for say the Turkish Open that lasted for many months in advance of the event, which was at the expense of promotion of BDO events, why!!!
It seems to me, and has done for a very long time, that we are like the little Dutch lad trying to stop the damn bursting by keeping his finger in the hole, or like the emperor Nero fiddling whilst Rome burnt. We are constantly having to react to initiatives from the PDC, where they invest more and more of their finances into their system, resulting in the ever decreasing support for us, we have had it with our top players on the Tour Cards, we now face our middle ranked players joining the ever increasing Challenge tour, and now with our youth. All these have gone unchallenged by us; we have not brought in any new initiatives, apart from throwing our members monies into a couple of events for “The players” the 48 lucky ones, many of whom are not even members of our organisation.
Perhaps some of us have accepted the fact that there is nothing we can do, that we sit back and just hope that we can keep replacing players forever and a day, and perhaps we can! But, to what extent, you cannot just replace quality players, these quality players are the ones that all of us have invested our time and County monies in over the years, most of which, would never have progressed from local league darts, had it not been for our efforts, and then when the “manager” with a cheque book comes along, off they go, not a second thought for the years we have invested in them, or the future of the BDO.
I have also had a lot of negative reaction from some of “The players” (the tour players I mean) to my proposal, I believe because it will make it easier for the rank and file of our members to challenge for the TV spots, at a fraction of the cost of travelling around the world. Without being too detrimental to ”The Players” the likes of us all, have supported the BDO through thick and thin, for decades and remain in the system, without us there would be no BDO, for anyone, never mind “The Players” who I might add have no compunction about leaving the BDO when it suits them, I mean the likes of Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting, Christian Kist, Alan Norris, Stuart Kellett, Mark Webster, Simon Whitlock, Ray Barneveld and especially Mervyn King who always said he was BDO through and through, all these players and many more, who did the tour, have no loyalty to the BDO, they are not here now, yet we remain trying to give new players opportunities, and trust me the current batch of “The players” will do exactly the same, take the money when it is available and then go, which is they have every right to do, but hardly a basis to create a successful future for the BDO.
We see posts on forums from some of our current top players who are enjoying the fruits of our past and current efforts, publically saying it is their intention to move to the PDC, so much for loyalty!!, you can say loyalty doesn’t pay the bills, well them deserting our organisation doesn’t help us as county officials pay the bills either, or assist us in keeping our system going, in fact it has a detrimental effect.
The View of some of “the players’ is County is dying, it's a past time now, with the result that they should be allowed to set up a separate committee, to decide what happens to the tour events, and leave us the shareholders to run the Inter-Counties, because we the shareholders, don’t care, and don’t have a clue. However they want to use the shareholders money to do this, and further drive some more nails into the BICC.
What they do not understand is, that all the events on the tour apart from the BDO events, do not belong to the BDO and therefore could not be under the control of the BDO or this proposed new committee, these events belong to the Countries organising/staging them.
Some of “the players” want to create another version of the PDC looking after the few, well they can get on with it, as can anyone else, but not with our monies or our infrastructure, and not at the expense of the future of the Inter-Counties.
The future of the BDO will always depend on us the County officials, without the foundations of a house being in place the whole structure will fall down. We have rules in place, should they be adhered to by our executive, which allows them the freedom to go out and source, sponsors, events etc., however there needs to be full transparency and communications between the board and the shareholders, about all aspects of deals brokered, we cannot continue with a them and us situation.
So with this in mind I think it is about time we looked at what we are doing and where our financing should be used, to protect the future of the BDO, and be a credible and forward thinking alternative in the darts market.
Never forget the Lakeside World Championships belong to the BDO (us the shareholders) as does the Winmau, not the players, not any other country, not any other dart organisations throughout the World. It is about time that incentives were introduced for us, within the qualifying process for our top events, to assist us promote our organisations best interests.
I have included in this proposal some spreadsheets which give you a breakdown of events, past Lakeside Qualifiers, etc. I am in essence putting in a proposal that a British Isle Regional Table which will include points for Inter-Counties, to have 10 direct qualifiers for the Lakeside. This I believe will give the players the opportunities to take part in County fixtures as opposed to playing the PDC challenge tour, or events outside of the UK. It will also give the County player with limited holidays, limited income, and full time employment, possibly shift workers, opportunities they do not currently have. It doesn’t prevent any of “The players” doing exactly what they want or are currently doing; it doesn’t force players into County Darts, but hopefully will encourage them to.
The clock is ticking my friends and County colleagues, we can sit back and carry on like we are, or we can start to consider how we stem the tide against us.
I have set the ball rolling with what I believe could be the first step to redressing the balance between us and the PDC, it doesn’t cost any money, it doesn’t mean anymore commitment, it just means that the County delegates need the will to defend our organisation and take the responsibility in voting this in at the AGM 2017.
We cannot be worrying what organisations in other countries think, they have their own systems, rules and agenda’s, our only priority has to be about ourselves in Britain.
I urge you all to support the motion at the AGM.
Tommy Thompson
Chairman Lancashire Darts.
30th May 2017
Women's sport is growing in popularity.Randall wrote:Ladies football > bdo darts
HalloweenJack wrote: ↑Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:25 am I will debate with anybody on here without becoming indignant and self righteous. I certainly never get angry.
Fucking hell?Jobber wrote:Dear Delegate,
This is an explanation to the proposal I have submitted.
I have enclosed a proposal that has gone into the BDO for their AGM this coming August 2017. It is quite a comprehensive document, but it is imperative that you read it and take on board what is included. I have sent this in as a county delegate and not Chairman of England, this proposal is about County Darts and the future of the BICC.
It would be easy for me to start apportioning blame towards certain people concerning the situation we are all experiencing in trying to run and finance our County teams and set ups, this is not what this exercise is about, as we have all have to take responsibility in this decline equally.
As we all know the BICC is struggling badly even the top County teams struggle to balance the books, for many years all counties ran coaches, booked hotels etc., many now cannot basically afford to do this.
The attendances are diminishing by the year, with only one match in the whole of the system attracting 200 plus people and the highest 280. There are over 60 matches in England, this season which have not had an attendance of 120 over two days, of which 25 had under 100 nearer 80, when you consider the players = 72+ officials players partners/friends, it is pretty damning to say the least.
The promotion of the BICC is more and more difficult, with many of the star names in our Counties choosing to play PDC darts in preference on the same weekends. How are we to promote our county matches when most of the star names, do not take part, and some of these players we actively encourage to do this, these same players who choose other avenues to expand their careers, and who, by definition, are the players who reap the benefits of the member’s money when it comes to the events held on TV, Lakeshite, Winmau, World Darts Trophy etc.
It really is a sad state of affairs when International players tell you they are thinking of not playing County darts this coming season, because it will free up 9 x weekends to play the BDO tour events abroad, and PDC challenge Tour.
Whilst you cannot stop the players exerting freedom of choice to do what they like, nevertheless, we should put in place a system which could at least encourage them to remain and support the BICC.
I hear a lot about “The players”, but I say what players? Re they the relatively few who can afford to go around the world to tour events, or are they the 14,000+ players, that we as county officials represent?
We see the BDO concentrating their efforts and finance into events for the few, with no discernible effort in the promotion of the BICC
Where is there any monthly promotion of the County matches? Inclusive of all the divisions,
Where is there any finance put into the Counties, to encourage players to remain in our system?
The BDO website last year had on its main page a blanket promotion for say the Turkish Open that lasted for many months in advance of the event, which was at the expense of promotion of BDO events, why!!!
It seems to me, and has done for a very long time, that we are like the little Dutch lad trying to stop the damn bursting by keeping his finger in the hole, or like the emperor Nero fiddling whilst Rome burnt. We are constantly having to react to initiatives from the PDC, where they invest more and more of their finances into their system, resulting in the ever decreasing support for us, we have had it with our top players on the Tour Cards, we now face our middle ranked players joining the ever increasing Challenge tour, and now with our youth. All these have gone unchallenged by us; we have not brought in any new initiatives, apart from throwing our members monies into a couple of events for “The players” the 48 lucky ones, many of whom are not even members of our organisation.
Perhaps some of us have accepted the fact that there is nothing we can do, that we sit back and just hope that we can keep replacing players forever and a day, and perhaps we can! But, to what extent, you cannot just replace quality players, these quality players are the ones that all of us have invested our time and County monies in over the years, most of which, would never have progressed from local league darts, had it not been for our efforts, and then when the “manager” with a cheque book comes along, off they go, not a second thought for the years we have invested in them, or the future of the BDO.
I have also had a lot of negative reaction from some of “The players” (the tour players I mean) to my proposal, I believe because it will make it easier for the rank and file of our members to challenge for the TV spots, at a fraction of the cost of travelling around the world. Without being too detrimental to ”The Players” the likes of us all, have supported the BDO through thick and thin, for decades and remain in the system, without us there would be no BDO, for anyone, never mind “The Players” who I might add have no compunction about leaving the BDO when it suits them, I mean the likes of Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting, Christian Kist, Alan Norris, Stuart Kellett, Mark Webster, Simon Whitlock, Ray Barneveld and especially Mervyn King who always said he was BDO through and through, all these players and many more, who did the tour, have no loyalty to the BDO, they are not here now, yet we remain trying to give new players opportunities, and trust me the current batch of “The players” will do exactly the same, take the money when it is available and then go, which is they have every right to do, but hardly a basis to create a successful future for the BDO.
We see posts on forums from some of our current top players who are enjoying the fruits of our past and current efforts, publically saying it is their intention to move to the PDC, so much for loyalty!!, you can say loyalty doesn’t pay the bills, well them deserting our organisation doesn’t help us as county officials pay the bills either, or assist us in keeping our system going, in fact it has a detrimental effect.
The View of some of “the players’ is County is dying, it's a past time now, with the result that they should be allowed to set up a separate committee, to decide what happens to the tour events, and leave us the shareholders to run the Inter-Counties, because we the shareholders, don’t care, and don’t have a clue. However they want to use the shareholders money to do this, and further drive some more nails into the BICC.
What they do not understand is, that all the events on the tour apart from the BDO events, do not belong to the BDO and therefore could not be under the control of the BDO or this proposed new committee, these events belong to the Countries organising/staging them.
Some of “the players” want to create another version of the PDC looking after the few, well they can get on with it, as can anyone else, but not with our monies or our infrastructure, and not at the expense of the future of the Inter-Counties.
The future of the BDO will always depend on us the County officials, without the foundations of a house being in place the whole structure will fall down. We have rules in place, should they be adhered to by our executive, which allows them the freedom to go out and source, sponsors, events etc., however there needs to be full transparency and communications between the board and the shareholders, about all aspects of deals brokered, we cannot continue with a them and us situation.
So with this in mind I think it is about time we looked at what we are doing and where our financing should be used, to protect the future of the BDO, and be a credible and forward thinking alternative in the darts market.
Never forget the Lakeshite World Championships belong to the BDO (us the shareholders) as does the Winmau, not the players, not any other country, not any other dart organisations throughout the World. It is about time that incentives were introduced for us, within the qualifying process for our top events, to assist us promote our organisations best interests.
I have included in this proposal some spreadsheets which give you a breakdown of events, past Lakeshite Qualifiers, etc. I am in essence putting in a proposal that a British Isle Regional Table which will include points for Inter-Counties, to have 10 direct qualifiers for the Lakeshite. This I believe will give the players the opportunities to take part in County fixtures as opposed to playing the PDC challenge tour, or events outside of the UK. It will also give the County player with limited holidays, limited income, and full time employment, possibly shift workers, opportunities they do not currently have. It doesn’t prevent any of “The players” doing exactly what they want or are currently doing; it doesn’t force players into County Darts, but hopefully will encourage them to.
The clock is ticking my friends and County colleagues, we can sit back and carry on like we are, or we can start to consider how we stem the tide against us.
I have set the ball rolling with what I believe could be the first step to redressing the balance between us and the PDC, it doesn’t cost any money, it doesn’t mean anymore commitment, it just means that the County delegates need the will to defend our organisation and take the responsibility in voting this in at the AGM 2017.
We cannot be worrying what organisations in other countries think, they have their own systems, rules and agenda’s, our only priority has to be about ourselves in Britain.
I urge you all to support the motion at the AGM.
Tommy Thompson
Chairman Lancashire Darts.
30th May 2017
TT still raging at Merv.
Fucking hell?Jobber wrote:Dear Delegate,
This is an explanation to the proposal I have submitted.
I have enclosed a proposal that has gone into the BDO for their AGM this coming August 2017. It is quite a comprehensive document, but it is imperative that you read it and take on board what is included. I have sent this in as a county delegate and not Chairman of England, this proposal is about County Darts and the future of the BICC.
It would be easy for me to start apportioning blame towards certain people concerning the situation we are all experiencing in trying to run and finance our County teams and set ups, this is not what this exercise is about, as we have all have to take responsibility in this decline equally.
As we all know the BICC is struggling badly even the top County teams struggle to balance the books, for many years all counties ran coaches, booked hotels etc., many now cannot basically afford to do this.
The attendances are diminishing by the year, with only one match in the whole of the system attracting 200 plus people and the highest 280. There are over 60 matches in England, this season which have not had an attendance of 120 over two days, of which 25 had under 100 nearer 80, when you consider the players = 72+ officials players partners/friends, it is pretty damning to say the least.
The promotion of the BICC is more and more difficult, with many of the star names in our Counties choosing to play PDC darts in preference on the same weekends. How are we to promote our county matches when most of the star names, do not take part, and some of these players we actively encourage to do this, these same players who choose other avenues to expand their careers, and who, by definition, are the players who reap the benefits of the member’s money when it comes to the events held on TV, Lakeshite, Winmau, World Darts Trophy etc.
It really is a sad state of affairs when International players tell you they are thinking of not playing County darts this coming season, because it will free up 9 x weekends to play the BDO tour events abroad, and PDC challenge Tour.
Whilst you cannot stop the players exerting freedom of choice to do what they like, nevertheless, we should put in place a system which could at least encourage them to remain and support the BICC.
I hear a lot about “The players”, but I say what players? Re they the relatively few who can afford to go around the world to tour events, or are they the 14,000+ players, that we as county officials represent?
We see the BDO concentrating their efforts and finance into events for the few, with no discernible effort in the promotion of the BICC
Where is there any monthly promotion of the County matches? Inclusive of all the divisions,
Where is there any finance put into the Counties, to encourage players to remain in our system?
The BDO website last year had on its main page a blanket promotion for say the Turkish Open that lasted for many months in advance of the event, which was at the expense of promotion of BDO events, why!!!
It seems to me, and has done for a very long time, that we are like the little Dutch lad trying to stop the damn bursting by keeping his finger in the hole, or like the emperor Nero fiddling whilst Rome burnt. We are constantly having to react to initiatives from the PDC, where they invest more and more of their finances into their system, resulting in the ever decreasing support for us, we have had it with our top players on the Tour Cards, we now face our middle ranked players joining the ever increasing Challenge tour, and now with our youth. All these have gone unchallenged by us; we have not brought in any new initiatives, apart from throwing our members monies into a couple of events for “The players” the 48 lucky ones, many of whom are not even members of our organisation.
Perhaps some of us have accepted the fact that there is nothing we can do, that we sit back and just hope that we can keep replacing players forever and a day, and perhaps we can! But, to what extent, you cannot just replace quality players, these quality players are the ones that all of us have invested our time and County monies in over the years, most of which, would never have progressed from local league darts, had it not been for our efforts, and then when the “manager” with a cheque book comes along, off they go, not a second thought for the years we have invested in them, or the future of the BDO.
I have also had a lot of negative reaction from some of “The players” (the tour players I mean) to my proposal, I believe because it will make it easier for the rank and file of our members to challenge for the TV spots, at a fraction of the cost of travelling around the world. Without being too detrimental to ”The Players” the likes of us all, have supported the BDO through thick and thin, for decades and remain in the system, without us there would be no BDO, for anyone, never mind “The Players” who I might add have no compunction about leaving the BDO when it suits them, I mean the likes of Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting, Christian Kist, Alan Norris, Stuart Kellett, Mark Webster, Simon Whitlock, Ray Barneveld and especially Mervyn King who always said he was BDO through and through, all these players and many more, who did the tour, have no loyalty to the BDO, they are not here now, yet we remain trying to give new players opportunities, and trust me the current batch of “The players” will do exactly the same, take the money when it is available and then go, which is they have every right to do, but hardly a basis to create a successful future for the BDO.
We see posts on forums from some of our current top players who are enjoying the fruits of our past and current efforts, publically saying it is their intention to move to the PDC, so much for loyalty!!, you can say loyalty doesn’t pay the bills, well them deserting our organisation doesn’t help us as county officials pay the bills either, or assist us in keeping our system going, in fact it has a detrimental effect.
The View of some of “the players’ is County is dying, it's a past time now, with the result that they should be allowed to set up a separate committee, to decide what happens to the tour events, and leave us the shareholders to run the Inter-Counties, because we the shareholders, don’t care, and don’t have a clue. However they want to use the shareholders money to do this, and further drive some more nails into the BICC.
What they do not understand is, that all the events on the tour apart from the BDO events, do not belong to the BDO and therefore could not be under the control of the BDO or this proposed new committee, these events belong to the Countries organising/staging them.
Some of “the players” want to create another version of the PDC looking after the few, well they can get on with it, as can anyone else, but not with our monies or our infrastructure, and not at the expense of the future of the Inter-Counties.
The future of the BDO will always depend on us the County officials, without the foundations of a house being in place the whole structure will fall down. We have rules in place, should they be adhered to by our executive, which allows them the freedom to go out and source, sponsors, events etc., however there needs to be full transparency and communications between the board and the shareholders, about all aspects of deals brokered, we cannot continue with a them and us situation.
So with this in mind I think it is about time we looked at what we are doing and where our financing should be used, to protect the future of the BDO, and be a credible and forward thinking alternative in the darts market.
Never forget the Lakeshite World Championships belong to the BDO (us the shareholders) as does the Winmau, not the players, not any other country, not any other dart organisations throughout the World. It is about time that incentives were introduced for us, within the qualifying process for our top events, to assist us promote our organisations best interests.
I have included in this proposal some spreadsheets which give you a breakdown of events, past Lakeshite Qualifiers, etc. I am in essence putting in a proposal that a British Isle Regional Table which will include points for Inter-Counties, to have 10 direct qualifiers for the Lakeshite. This I believe will give the players the opportunities to take part in County fixtures as opposed to playing the PDC challenge tour, or events outside of the UK. It will also give the County player with limited holidays, limited income, and full time employment, possibly shift workers, opportunities they do not currently have. It doesn’t prevent any of “The players” doing exactly what they want or are currently doing; it doesn’t force players into County Darts, but hopefully will encourage them to.
The clock is ticking my friends and County colleagues, we can sit back and carry on like we are, or we can start to consider how we stem the tide against us.
I have set the ball rolling with what I believe could be the first step to redressing the balance between us and the PDC, it doesn’t cost any money, it doesn’t mean anymore commitment, it just means that the County delegates need the will to defend our organisation and take the responsibility in voting this in at the AGM 2017.
We cannot be worrying what organisations in other countries think, they have their own systems, rules and agenda’s, our only priority has to be about ourselves in Britain.
I urge you all to support the motion at the AGM.
Tommy Thompson
Chairman Lancashire Darts.
30th May 2017
TT still raging at Merv.
Don't panic, just treat it as a generic PT13 post.Randall wrote:Fucking hell?Jobber wrote:Dear Delegate,
This is an explanation to the proposal I have submitted.
I have enclosed a proposal that has gone into the BDO for their AGM this coming August 2017. It is quite a comprehensive document, but it is imperative that you read it and take on board what is included. I have sent this in as a county delegate and not Chairman of England, this proposal is about County Darts and the future of the BICC.
It would be easy for me to start apportioning blame towards certain people concerning the situation we are all experiencing in trying to run and finance our County teams and set ups, this is not what this exercise is about, as we have all have to take responsibility in this decline equally.
As we all know the BICC is struggling badly even the top County teams struggle to balance the books, for many years all counties ran coaches, booked hotels etc., many now cannot basically afford to do this.
The attendances are diminishing by the year, with only one match in the whole of the system attracting 200 plus people and the highest 280. There are over 60 matches in England, this season which have not had an attendance of 120 over two days, of which 25 had under 100 nearer 80, when you consider the players = 72+ officials players partners/friends, it is pretty damning to say the least.
The promotion of the BICC is more and more difficult, with many of the star names in our Counties choosing to play PDC darts in preference on the same weekends. How are we to promote our county matches when most of the star names, do not take part, and some of these players we actively encourage to do this, these same players who choose other avenues to expand their careers, and who, by definition, are the players who reap the benefits of the member’s money when it comes to the events held on TV, Lakeshite, Winmau, World Darts Trophy etc.
It really is a sad state of affairs when International players tell you they are thinking of not playing County darts this coming season, because it will free up 9 x weekends to play the BDO tour events abroad, and PDC challenge Tour.
Whilst you cannot stop the players exerting freedom of choice to do what they like, nevertheless, we should put in place a system which could at least encourage them to remain and support the BICC.
I hear a lot about “The players”, but I say what players? Re they the relatively few who can afford to go around the world to tour events, or are they the 14,000+ players, that we as county officials represent?
We see the BDO concentrating their efforts and finance into events for the few, with no discernible effort in the promotion of the BICC
Where is there any monthly promotion of the County matches? Inclusive of all the divisions,
Where is there any finance put into the Counties, to encourage players to remain in our system?
The BDO website last year had on its main page a blanket promotion for say the Turkish Open that lasted for many months in advance of the event, which was at the expense of promotion of BDO events, why!!!
It seems to me, and has done for a very long time, that we are like the little Dutch lad trying to stop the damn bursting by keeping his finger in the hole, or like the emperor Nero fiddling whilst Rome burnt. We are constantly having to react to initiatives from the PDC, where they invest more and more of their finances into their system, resulting in the ever decreasing support for us, we have had it with our top players on the Tour Cards, we now face our middle ranked players joining the ever increasing Challenge tour, and now with our youth. All these have gone unchallenged by us; we have not brought in any new initiatives, apart from throwing our members monies into a couple of events for “The players” the 48 lucky ones, many of whom are not even members of our organisation.
Perhaps some of us have accepted the fact that there is nothing we can do, that we sit back and just hope that we can keep replacing players forever and a day, and perhaps we can! But, to what extent, you cannot just replace quality players, these quality players are the ones that all of us have invested our time and County monies in over the years, most of which, would never have progressed from local league darts, had it not been for our efforts, and then when the “manager” with a cheque book comes along, off they go, not a second thought for the years we have invested in them, or the future of the BDO.
I have also had a lot of negative reaction from some of “The players” (the tour players I mean) to my proposal, I believe because it will make it easier for the rank and file of our members to challenge for the TV spots, at a fraction of the cost of travelling around the world. Without being too detrimental to ”The Players” the likes of us all, have supported the BDO through thick and thin, for decades and remain in the system, without us there would be no BDO, for anyone, never mind “The Players” who I might add have no compunction about leaving the BDO when it suits them, I mean the likes of Dave Chisnall, Stephen Bunting, Christian Kist, Alan Norris, Stuart Kellett, Mark Webster, Simon Whitlock, Ray Barneveld and especially Mervyn King who always said he was BDO through and through, all these players and many more, who did the tour, have no loyalty to the BDO, they are not here now, yet we remain trying to give new players opportunities, and trust me the current batch of “The players” will do exactly the same, take the money when it is available and then go, which is they have every right to do, but hardly a basis to create a successful future for the BDO.
We see posts on forums from some of our current top players who are enjoying the fruits of our past and current efforts, publically saying it is their intention to move to the PDC, so much for loyalty!!, you can say loyalty doesn’t pay the bills, well them deserting our organisation doesn’t help us as county officials pay the bills either, or assist us in keeping our system going, in fact it has a detrimental effect.
The View of some of “the players’ is County is dying, it's a past time now, with the result that they should be allowed to set up a separate committee, to decide what happens to the tour events, and leave us the shareholders to run the Inter-Counties, because we the shareholders, don’t care, and don’t have a clue. However they want to use the shareholders money to do this, and further drive some more nails into the BICC.
What they do not understand is, that all the events on the tour apart from the BDO events, do not belong to the BDO and therefore could not be under the control of the BDO or this proposed new committee, these events belong to the Countries organising/staging them.
Some of “the players” want to create another version of the PDC looking after the few, well they can get on with it, as can anyone else, but not with our monies or our infrastructure, and not at the expense of the future of the Inter-Counties.
The future of the BDO will always depend on us the County officials, without the foundations of a house being in place the whole structure will fall down. We have rules in place, should they be adhered to by our executive, which allows them the freedom to go out and source, sponsors, events etc., however there needs to be full transparency and communications between the board and the shareholders, about all aspects of deals brokered, we cannot continue with a them and us situation.
So with this in mind I think it is about time we looked at what we are doing and where our financing should be used, to protect the future of the BDO, and be a credible and forward thinking alternative in the darts market.
Never forget the Lakeshite World Championships belong to the BDO (us the shareholders) as does the Winmau, not the players, not any other country, not any other dart organisations throughout the World. It is about time that incentives were introduced for us, within the qualifying process for our top events, to assist us promote our organisations best interests.
I have included in this proposal some spreadsheets which give you a breakdown of events, past Lakeshite Qualifiers, etc. I am in essence putting in a proposal that a British Isle Regional Table which will include points for Inter-Counties, to have 10 direct qualifiers for the Lakeshite. This I believe will give the players the opportunities to take part in County fixtures as opposed to playing the PDC challenge tour, or events outside of the UK. It will also give the County player with limited holidays, limited income, and full time employment, possibly shift workers, opportunities they do not currently have. It doesn’t prevent any of “The players” doing exactly what they want or are currently doing; it doesn’t force players into County Darts, but hopefully will encourage them to.
The clock is ticking my friends and County colleagues, we can sit back and carry on like we are, or we can start to consider how we stem the tide against us.
I have set the ball rolling with what I believe could be the first step to redressing the balance between us and the PDC, it doesn’t cost any money, it doesn’t mean anymore commitment, it just means that the County delegates need the will to defend our organisation and take the responsibility in voting this in at the AGM 2017.
We cannot be worrying what organisations in other countries think, they have their own systems, rules and agenda’s, our only priority has to be about ourselves in Britain.
I urge you all to support the motion at the AGM.
Tommy Thompson
Chairman Lancashire Darts.
30th May 2017
TT still raging at Merv.
Summary?
