EXCITING times ahead for the darts community says PDC and Gwent county player Nick Kenny, as he gears up for an upcoming event in Chepstow.

Darts has had an impressive growth of popularity in recent years, which many have credited to breakout, teenage-star, and reigning World Champion, Luke Littler. This has been plain to see by any darts fan, pub-goer, and social media user - which has led to an increased demand for star-studded darts events.

Chepstow Athletic Club will be home to one such event on Saturday, February 8, where Kenny joins headliner, and newly crowned Bahrain Darts Masters Champion, Stephen Bunting, in ‘An evening with The Bullet’.

But events such as these are more than just a spectacle of high quality arrows. As Kenny said: “Darts brings everyone together. A good experience from this event could encourage more youngsters to pick it up a bit more, and others to play more local darts.

“Chepstow has a strong darts community, a good network and platform there - so it should be a good event.”

It is certainly an exciting time for young players to the sport. Nick started as a youngster, and with his natural talent, hard work, and support from family and community - he has made it to where he is today.

He said: “I was 13 when I first went into the pubs and built my way up from there. I played in my bedroom when I was six, hit my first 180 when I was nine and played locally with my dad and was finding when to join the leagues then, after I’d been to the England Open Youth where I reached the semi-finals. 13-years-old, first ever competition and the final was on TV!

“I went into the pubs, played on a Sunday, did really well and my name started spreading about. Got invited to play Super League, managed to get into the County team, the Welsh Youth team and progressively into County A and the International team. From that success, I found myself a sponsor, into BDO and now all the way to PDC.”

Alongside playing at the elite level with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), he is also Chairman of both the Gwent Darts Organisation and Cwmbran’s Friday night league LEVDL.

Kenny’s beloved Gwent County side has had a myriad of talent, and has included players from The Forest of Dean and Monmouthshire, such as foresters Harry Williams and Mark “Blanco” Blandford.

There will be many looking to follow in these players’ footsteps, so Nick’s message to prospective players of any level was to reach out to your local darts community. For youngsters, he said it’s a good idea to look for the local darts academy.

He said: “Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions. You never know when an opportunity is out there with your community with a chance to develop.”

And one opportunity to ask questions is at the upcoming Chepstow event. Nick said there will be a Q&A, raffle and much more.

It is sure to be an action-packed evening, featuring two players who have impressed darts fans lately. Nick stunned audiences with a 170 finish in his round one clash at the World Championships, and continued his run by beating legendary five-time World Champion Raymond Van Barneveld, before eventually losing out to world number one Luke Humphries in round three.

His performances were followed by a proud Gwent community, who set up watch-along events in various pubs throughout the campaign. Now, Kenny sets his eyes on the next two years, where he hopes to finish in the top 50 of the world rankings.

He said: “In the next two years, I want to keep staying on the tour and keep building my way up, qualifying for more European events and do some more damage in the majors. I’m playing the best I’ve ever played, and that’s shown really with the results last year.”

Nick also hopes to play in more exhibitions and events such as Chepstow. He is available to book for these, presentations and more, subject to schedule. You can contact him via social media.

You can call D10 on 07396180180 for more details about the upcoming event.