Cape Town - Male darts singles national champion Roelof Burger is switching the narrative by aiming to inspire and uplift young people.
With a career that dates back to 1994, the multi-award winning player described how the weekend pastime not only evolved into a passionate sport that became second nature to him, but also a route that he now pursues to inspire other young darts players strive for greatness.
“Having both my parents playing darts since 1981, I was kinda born into it. The love for the game went from a weekend activity, to something I enjoyed playing over time.
“I started playing darts at the age of 12 and this was because I was the only junior in the club. I had no choice but to play with the senior men who represented our club at the South African national Darts Championship in Mmabatho. Despite our team losing, I won from the experience and I learnt how to play under pressure,” said Burger.
As a well-respected member of the darts community, Burger explained that he considered himself to be serving a higher purpose than just tossing feathery missiles at an oval board.
“From event planning at darts tournaments, where people from all walks of life mingle and socialise, to assisting juniors to improve their skill and mathematical prowess, I use my platform to uplift and inspire where I can.
“Even from the development of juniors who want to break out onto the scene, I help them find their sense of purpose where peer pressure, school pressure, family pressure surround them daily. Even if it's just a friendly word with an old friend, that camaraderie helps bring that bond in the darts community.
“Besides darts, I have been going to Tik Tok every night for the past three months and spend two hours every night with a Tik Tok user by the name of @Des_Dillan_Koo, who is a young boy living with cri du chat syndrome. Due to his condition, his intellectual ability is not the same as ours.
“He struggles with speech and because of his condition, I spend time with him just to interact and add a little bit of joy by playing his favourite songs every night from Spongebob to Shrek and a few more,” said Burger.
Darts SA spokesperson, Anna-Marie Maraz, said that given Burger's reputation in the community, it was commendable that he was able to go beyond what he normally did.
“Burger is very popular in our darts community. It is commendable that he often shares his knowledge and goes the extra mile to teach young people about darts and debunk the narrative of darts only being a game associated with drinking.
“Darts is way more than what people think it is. It teaches good sportsmanship and it helps you to be disciplined and dedicated, and to be quite honest, it's a cool game for young people who are not entirely into physical games. As much as there's a lot of maths involved, the game does teach skills that I think are fundamental in the real world,” said Maraz.
Advising on what is the secret to hitting the bullseye on a darts dashboard, Burger said the secret was practice.
“If you want to be good at something, practise. This holds true for anyone wanting to excel in any sport. Be graceful in defeat and humble in victory. Be a good loser, but better winner.
“Handling pressure in sport flows over into handling personal and life pressures. Those lessons learnt in front of the competitive darts board have a ripple effect into many facets of modern life,” said Burger.