By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
The Massawippi Dart League is 30+ years old and going strong, says league Vice President Pat Patterson. The Record visited Lennoxville’s ANAF Unit 318 (The Hut) and spoke with him Sept. 15.
“I’ve been in [the league] for at least 26 years,” began Patterson. Perry Statton is President, he noted. The governing board has meetings several times a year. The league is comprised of eight teams, 14 players per team plus alternates. Anyone in the vicinity can play, and he emphasized it is a “fun league”, so any skill-level is welcome. “Some have never played before and we bring them in to show them how to play.”
The league plays in Lennoxville and North Hatley. They used to also play at Lennoxville’s Curling Club, but last year was the club’s anniversary and there was too much going on, he said. He’s not sure if they will return to the club in the future. “It was a good place to play.”
The teams are more or less even now, he went on. He thinks some are stronger than others, but it changes from year to year. There is room for new members; each team can have up to nine “spares” or alternate players. After December there is a cut-off for new members for the season.
Some years there are a lot of new players, he explained, but there are many regulars, since people tend to stick around. Players are anywhere from 18 years old to 80 years of age. As long as new players can obey the rules and are there to have fun, anyone can form a team, he reiterated. Usually six teams play out of “The Hut” and two teams play out of North Hatley. There must be at least four women on each team.
