Darts king Peter ‘Snakebite’ Wright learnt maths at the oche – and is backing a campaign for kids to do the same.
Having overcome early struggles with the subject Peter admits he still sometimes gets stumped doing his in-game calculations.
At one point during January’s World Championship win over Michael Smith his mind went “totally blank” and he couldn’t work out what to go for. Peter, 52, said “Luckily we have scorers to help us.”
Hoping to inspire pupils to boost their numeracy skills he has teamed up with professional darts body the PDC for its Bullseye Maths campaign.
“I struggled at school until I started playing darts,” he said.
“I didn’t become brilliant but I became more confident in myself and I didn’t become the odd one out in a class anymore.
“I got better and better at it, and now I’m not bad at it all.” Peter, who has three grown-up children, says the campaign is particularly vital as kids missed out on learning in lockdowns.
He admits finding the darkest days of the pandemic tough going. Peter said: “I hated it. The first three months was good, it was nice to have the time off. But then I struggled a bit mentally.
“It was a dark place. Luckily I had darts to practise indoors and keep my mind focused.”
The campaign uses a section on the PDC website packed with number-crunching games and advice. Chief executive Matt Porter said: “We hope the games, tips, tricks and player stories will help make learning maths fun.
“A dartboard is like a big puzzle. It’s up to you how you get to the needed number.”
PDC President Barry Hearn added: “Sport teaches us all a lot of life lessons and in darts there’s the added benefit that it can be so beneficial with maths.”
Bullseye Maths is on the PDC website at pdc.tv/maths.
