Soft-tip dart players across the world gathered at Bally’s in Las Vegas, Nev. for the AMOA-National Dart Association’s (NDA) Team Dart 2011, held April 29- May 7. This year, Team Dart boasted more than 14,000 event entrants from seven countries competing for over $500,000 in prize money.

Unique from other tournaments, the NDA prides itself on offering a tournament for players of all skill levels ranging from beginners to professionals. All participants are classified into levels according to their individual or team’s skill rating. In fact, there are anywhere from 1 to 21 levels in any one event each year depending on the number and skill levels of entries. All levels in Open events pay the same amount of money for each place, be it Level 1 or Level 21.

The association’s operator members work very hard all year to provide opportunities for their sanctioned players to compete in leagues and become eligible for the annual Team Dart tournament. Approximately 166 NDA operators sent teams to Team Dart this year. Team Dart entry qualifications include being a NDA-sanctioned player and playing at least 96 league games in a specified period for the NDA coin-op vending company who enters the player in the tournament.

Team Dart 2011 kicked off Saturday and Sunday, April 29-30, with Singles and Doubles Cricket and 501. Players had the option of participating in up to 10 events throughout the nine days of competition.

Team Dart 2011 events included:

• Open Singles 501, Levels 1-18
• Open Masters Singles 501 DI/DO, Levels A & B
• Ladies Masters Singles 501 DI/DO
• Open Singles Cricket, Levels 1-21
• Open Masters Singles Cricket, Levels A & B
• Ladies Masters Singles Cricket
• Senior Singles Combo, Levels 1-4
• Open Doubles 501, Levels 1-12
• Open Masters Doubles 501 DI/DO
• Ladies Masters Doubles 501 DI/DO
• Open Doubles Cricket, Levels 1-13
• Open Masters Doubles Cricket
• Ladies Masters Doubles Cricket
• Mixed Doubles Combo, Levels 1-5
• Masters Mixed Doubles Combo
• Mixed Doubles 501, Level 1-5
• Masters Mixed Doubles 501
• Mixed Triples 701, Levels 1-4
• Mixed Masters Triples 701
• Mixed Triples Combo, Level 1-6
• Masters Mixed Triples Combo
• Open Team Cricket, Levels 1-5
• Open Masters Team Cricket
• Ladies Masters Team Cricket
• Open Team 501, Level 1-5
• Open Masters Team 501 DI/DO
• Ladies Masters Team 501 DI/DO

An international competition would not be complete without an International Challenge. Teams from Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the United States competed Wednesday, May 4, for international bragging rights until next year’s competition. The German women’s team defeated Spain, taking the title for the second year, and the USA men’s team defeated France. A special thanks to Team USA sponsor, Mike Bates with Dart Masters.

Final results for the International Challenge are as follows:

Women’s International Challenge

1^st Place: Germany

2^nd Place: Spain

3^rd Place: USA

4^th Place: Canada

Men’s International Challenge

1^st Place: USA

2^nd Place: France

3^rd Place: Germany

4^th Place: Canada

5^th Place: Spain

Top overall money winners for this year’s event were Ben Dersch with Bullseye, Inc. in Wisconsin and Stacy Bromberg with D & B Electronic Darts in Nevada.

Top shooters in each level in Team Cricket and 501, with a minimum of 24 games played during the tournament, receive Top Gun awards. This year’s Top Gun recipients are:

Open Team Cricket

Scott Miller	Masters	Bullseye, Inc	Madison, Wis.
Carolyn Nessmann	Ladies Masters	Sam’s Amusement Company	Kenosha, Wis.
Kevin Luke	Level 1	AJ’s Entertainment	West Richland, Wash.
Rick Reddell	Level 2	Darts Plus, LLC	Overland Parks, Kan.
Paul Krenz	Level 3	Aactive Coin Machines, Ltd.	Canada
Donnie Holden	Level 4	NTS	Omaha, Neb.
Casey Rau	Level 5	VVS, Inc.	Lincoln, Neb.

Open Team 501

Scott Miller	Masters	Bullseye, Inc.	Madison, Wis.
Lisa Yee	Ladies Masters	Troy Vending	Phoenix, Ariz.
Paul Boleu	Level 1	Bumpers, Inc.	Spokane, Wash.
Chris Morgan	Level 2	Bumpers, Inc.	Spokane, Wash.
Billy White, Jr.	Level 3	Darts R Fun	El Cajon, Calif.
Troy Royaux	Level 4	France Darts	France
Max Lovejoy	Level 5	Dolphin Coin, Inc.	Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

During the Wednesday night Opening Ceremony and Player Party, the NDA inducted Jim Stansfield of Stansfield Vending and Bob Wiles of Arachnid, Inc., into the NDA Hall of Fame. Their contributions to the NDA are invaluable and deserve to be recognized at the highest level. For their dedicated service, Maggie Jones, NDA President, presented them with Hall of Fame awards.

Also during the Opening Ceremony and Player Party, the NDA thanked its sponsors for their continued support of the tournament and the association. In attendance to accept their awards were Donovan Fremin with the Amusement & Music Operators Association, Sam Zammuto with Arachnid, Inc., Mate Vukoja with Cyberdine d.o.o., Jose Maria Cervera with Gaelco Darts S.L., Chris Peppard with Medalist Corporation, Helmut Schneller with NSM-Löwen Entertainment and Cathy Scarbrough with Shelti. The following NDA manufacturer sponsors, Arachnid, Inc., Cyberdine d.o.o., Gaelco Darts S.L., Medalist Corporation, NSM-Löwen Entertainment and Shelti, provided 324 dartboards for the tournament floor. It was on these machines that the best of the best battled for the title of World Champion. Manufacturers also provided games in their onsite booth for players to enjoy outside of competition.

The hard work and dedication of the Team Dart Tournament Committee, Administrative and Tournament Staff, Set-up Crew and NDA Certified Referees was also recognized. Honored staff included:

Tournament Committee

Reggie Horak Maggie Jones Cora Mahoney

Bernie Marsh Larry McEntire

Dawn Orloff-Niesen Robert Tolliver

Administrative and Tournament Staff and Set-up Crew

Julie Bangs Guin Black Tyler Brown Britt Bruner Larry Buckwalter Bridgett Coughlin Andrea Cowan Kevin Darke Todd Demland Stephane Dirand Keri Dorsey Bill Downall Vee Dudley Stan Garcia Alvin Gerlach Chris Grieman Howard Grimm Teresa Hammersmith Sonja Harper Bryson Henderson Liz Hogan Craig Hoglund

Kevin Huchendorf Larry Javes Mary Jacobs Georgene Jessen Audra Lavery Maranda Marsh Marccus Marsh Marinna Marsh Marissa Marsh Maxsonn Marsh Paulette Marsh Judy Mehle Terry Meier Leslie Murphy Tim Murphy Tim Niesen Ora Norris Molly Noonan Traci Noteboom Kim Paugh Marcia Petersen Christy Piggott

Kathy Pirie Alyssa Pfennig Stefan Reichert Robert Riggs Eric Rohr Daniel Russel Patty Salisbury Ponnie Sampson Dave Schultz Christopher Shea Diane Shea Elizabeth Sowinski Randy Torres Fred Tupper Austin Vance Katie Voorhest Rhiannon Waltman Chris Warren Lloyd Williamson

NDA Certified Referees

J.L. Hudson Bernie Marsh Marriah Marsh

Larry McEntire Randy Oliver Ponnie Sampson

Shawn Smith Robert Tolliver

Thanks to MVP Awards, Inc., Laramie Screen Printing and A-Z Darts for their continued support of the NDA and Team Dart.

Team Dart 2012 will be held at Bally’s Las Vegas, April 13-21. Reserve your room by calling 800.634.3434. Watch for details at www.NDAdarts.com.