'Luke Littler effect' inspiring young people to step up to the oche

Darts has certainly had a sea-change in the last number of years.

Once a pub game, which was the pastime of mostly older men - that all changed with the rise of a teenage sensation.

Luke 'The Nuke' Littler became world champion in 2025, which inspired a whole new generation to take their first steps up to the oche.

"The Luke Littler effect after him winning those worlds from him being 18 or 17 winning them, it's just made young people want to get into darts," said 11-year-old Oscar.

Nineteen-year-old Littler is heading to Belfast's SSE Arena on Thursday night as the fourth round of the Premier League rolls into town.

Oscar took up darts last year and since then said he has "fallen in love" with the sport.

"I play football and rugby too, so it was a bit of a weird sport to get into," he said.

"But once you start it's brilliant and it's really good for your maths if you struggle with it."

Oscar joined the Carrickfergus Darts Academy in May and said it has really "upped his game".

"I play darts every Sunday at the club and I've got a board at the house and I play about two or three hours a day after I've done my homework," he said.

"I've been playing at a really high standard and I have been doing qualifiers for the Northern Ireland's JDC (Junior Darts Corporation) national team."

Gregg Fowles said since setting up the Carrickfergus academy in 2020 the growth has been "off the scale".

"It's all about getting access to a safe and enjoyable space for these kids, they are not just tagging along with their uncle John or their dad," he added.

It's not just limited to Carrickfergus. In Larne a group of about 25 young people gather every Wednesday to throw some darts.

Kayden, aged nine, started playing darts one or two years ago.

His biggest inspiration is his grandad and he hopes to be as good as him some day but for now it just about "playing darts and having fun".

John O'Toole, who runs the Larne Darts Academy, has seen the number of young people involved in the game rise massively in the last few years.

"A few years ago, I decided to do a few youth competitions and seen the numbers were quite low," he said.

"So I started promoting and pushing youth darts and now we have over 300 youth players across Northern Ireland."

About 25 young people attend the academy in Larne every week, including some as young as seven.

John said the Covid-19 lockdowns lead to many taking up the sport but he also credited the rise of Littler and Northern Ireland's own Josh Rock for inspiring young people to give it a go.

Brady Hall, 18, starting coming to the academy a few years ago after his mum saw it advertised but now acts as a coach.

He took up the sport first at home after seeing Joe Cullen win the Masters in 2022 on television.

"At the time it just seemed fun, it seemed like something I wanted to do but now I am taking it more seriously," he said.

Brady said he has been amazed by the growth of youth darts since then.

"It's hard to keep up with sometimes but there's more and more every week," he said.

"There are so many fantastic youth players from here, that are better than half the adult players.

"It's mental because I can't keep up with it but I try my best. "

Dylan, 14, said he started the academy to have fun but now takes it more seriously.

"It's hard when you see people and they are so calm and then when you try it it's very frustrating," he said.

"I watch the foundation tours a lot and I really want to do the foundation tours."

Tickets for Thursday's event at the SSE Arena are sold out but you can follow live text commentary from night four of the Premier League on the BBC Sport website and app.

Antrim's Rock will face Gian van Veen in the quarter-finals, while Littler takes on Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting is up against current champion Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen faces off against Gerwyn Price.

The show is due to start at 7pm.