A family's "cruel" practice made an award-winning teen darts player so good "none of them can beat him".
Inspired by his dad, who played with local teams after a time in the darts Superleague, 15-year-old David Birks started playing magnetic darts when he was two, graduating to "proper darts" at six. That first time holding a proper dart, David, from Skelmersdale, thought, "this is what I want to do in the future".
He said: "It was a bit scary because you don't know what could happen at that age, but I'm getting used to it now. Well, I say 'getting used to it'. It's been about nine years".
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His "proud" mum Bernadette, 46, didn't realise how much of a community existed around darts was until David got involved. She credits it with keeping her "sensible" son, who looks after his autistic younger brother, off the streets and out of trouble.
She said: "If he came to me and said tomorrow, 'Mum, I don't want to play darts anymore', I'd be like, 'That's fine, what do you want to do?', but he just loves it. He's got the full set up in his bedroom with the light and the dart board."
But his first forays into darts weren't smooth sailing. When David was younger, his dad would come downstairs brandishing a trophy every time he beat his son at darts. Bernadette said: "His dad and his family never let him win. I used to say, 'Let him win, don't be cruel' and they'd say no. That was when he was really young, and now none of them can beat him. He went to practice the other day and he scored eight 180s (the highest score possible with three darts). My dad's scored one in his whole life."
David, who has played with a local men's team since he was nine, practices darts for three hours a day and competes at a Friday night league in Lancashire. He's planning to enter more tournaments to advance his dream of becoming a professional darts player, but at 15, he's already making a name for himself.
He cleaned up at a Lancashire Darts presentation evening on August 20, winning five solo awards along with a medal for being part of the league's winning team, according to Bernadette. Despite this success, David who 'walks on' to the tune of Boom! Shake the Room by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, gets "really nervous" and "always shakes" when he's competing.
It was especially "nerve-racking" when professional player Bradley Brooks, who won the 2020 PDC World Youth Championship, was watching one of his games. But he didn't let that stop him from performing, telling the ECHO: "I felt amazing just getting to prove what I can do in front of professional players. He said to his girlfriend after the game, 'Who did I say to look out for today?' and she pointed at me. I was so surprised."
David wants others to pursue their dreams like he is, saying: "I'd just like people to do whatever they want and not be forced by their mates or their family to choose something. Just do what you want to do and try to become better at it."
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