By Jesse Boily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Town & Country News
Two young Grande Prairie youth are jetsetting across the globe due to their exceptional skill at the dart board.
Shaelyn Boone, 14, recently returned from South Korea with a bronze medal while Saylee Blois, 16, headed to Hungary on Wednesday.
“It’s just fun,” said Boone, who took home a bronze medal representing Canada at the Youth Mixed Pairs competition at the 2025 World Cup in South Korea.
“I really wanted to beat that team,” she said.
She was partnered with Peyton Hammond of B.C, and in the duo’s semi-final match, she said she “lost all of her darts.”
“I couldn’t hit anything good to be able to get down to a double, (and) I couldn’t hit my double.”
Boone had made her way to Korea by gaining enough points at provincial darts and then headed to nationals in Quebec.
She started playing about two years ago, and says she likes the competitive side of the sport.
Meanwhile, her friend and teammate Blois is ready for their first international trip to Budapest, Hungary, for the World Masters tournament.
“I’m so excited to meet new people from all over, meet a bunch of really famous dart players that have a bunch of like World Darts Federation (WDF) titles underneath their belt and a crap ton of wins,” said Blois.
She started playing while volunteering at the Royal Canadian Legion in Grande Prairie; Blois joined a couple of players for a game about three years ago, and then began mainly playing against adults before eventually joining the youth darts.
Blois is excited to meet fellow international youth dart players such as England’s Paige Pauling.
“She has gone and won against adults, and a bunch of my friends met her last year and say that she’s this amazing person, and I’m just really excited and I really can’t wait to meet her.”
She said that the English play more darts than Canadians, noting it is even taught in schools to help teach math.
“This whole entire game is basically just math,” said Blois, noting the counting of your score, subtracting points, and figuring out what to shoot for to make a double to win the game.
Both Blois and Boone noted their math skills improved significantly after playing darts.
Still, it’s not something some of their friends understand.
Some peers make fun of them for their dedication to the sport, they note.
The girls can often be found throwing darts at the Legion, playing about four days a week and not counting special weekend tournaments.
The constant practice is what they believe has helped get them to the international stage of darts.
Blois says darts is 10 per cent the game and 90 per cent a mind game.
She says she uses music to concentrate, but with headphones not allowed in competition, she focuses on a song to help get her ready as she plays.
“I was at provincials my very first year, I had no clue what to do, I couldn’t shoot, I was really stressed out; I know music helps me to calm down and get my mind off of everything, so I sung ‘Shake It Off’ by Taylor Swift, and ever since that song has just always helped me,” she said.
The duo not only play in youth leagues but have created a team of youth that compete against adults.
“Those adults have really great respect for us,” said Blois.
”They are very proud of us,” she said, noting they encourage them to keep going and help lift them when they feel down, even if they are competing against them.
It’s a little bit of extra practice for the duo dart players who both have their sights set on the next World Cup in two years in Egypt.
Discover more from The Pro News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
