Ethan Marshall is hopping a plane for Gibraltar Nov. 19 to compete as one of four members of Team Canada against 20 teams from all over the world for the international dart championship - returning home to Garden Hill in time for his 14th birthday.
Ethan will join the four-person team representing Canada in Junior Darts Corporation Junior Team competition Nov. 23 to 26, along with Trey House and AJ Dempsey of Ontario – and Emily Alford, who had to fly in from Nova Scotia to compete.
It's quite an accomplishment for a kid that age to have the opportunity to go up against teams from the US, Germany, Italy and other countries, his dad Daryl said recently.
And it's something of a family landmark too, he added. His dad Brian played darts, which means he started throwing at a fairly young age himself, later enjoying this pastime as a member of the Cobourg Legion. Then, being exposed to darts at a young age as well, Ethan got interested in trying his hand at the dart board in their basement.
“We got to the point where we worked on his form, and then he joined the Oshawa Youth Dart League and he has been playing ever since.”
Ethan got the opportunity to compete in the Ontario Tykes Championship with his partner, then won at provincials a couple of years ago.
It's perhaps even more of an accomplishment when you consider that, because of his December birthday, Ethan has been playing against people who are older than him all along. Having graduated from North Hope Central Public School and Dr. Hawkins Senior Public School, he is now one of the youngest freshmen at Port Hope High School.
As with all sports, darts has been thrown into chaos by COVID-19.
“We were registered to qualify for Team Canada before the beginning of COVID, and that closed everything down. So this is the first time they were able to hold the qualifying tournament and have the tournament in Gibraltar,” Daryl said.
“We found out last Sunday he made the team and we only have three weeks to book, and a lot of that cost is on us. We are looking at probably $10,000.
“He did his part, so I can't step aside. There's a lot of fundraising going on.”
Ethan has a sponsorship from the American darts-supply firm NineDartOut, and his aunt has set up a GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/b21603c2 not to mention a team fundraiser in Oshawa Nov. 14.
While Ethan will be accompanied by his dad and his mother Elaina, his sister Piper will not be along. Too young to be vaccinated against COVID, she would have had to undergo a rigourous schedule of stressful COVID testing (which they didn't want to subject her to), as well as missing school and, upon her return, putting in two weeks of quarantining that would have her in isolation on her birthday.
“She's been a big supporter. She comes to all the tournaments, always wants to know how he's doing, always around pushing him to practice,” Daryl said.
Meanwhile, there are all the COVID requirements for the rest of the family to make the trip before they get on the plane to Heathrow and, from there, to tiny Gibraltar, and they're scrambling to get them completed.
People are always surprised that this small Spanish peninsula is home to a thriving darts-competition scene, but Daryl pointed out that they have a prestigious Gibraltar Darts Trophy tournament there with competition for all ages.
“To be honest, I never thought he would have the opportunity to do what he is doing,” Marshall said.