LUKE Humphries has given a ringing endorsement of the JDC – and revealed he wished the organisation existed when he was trying to find his feet in darts as a youngster.
The newly-crowned World Matchplay champion can vouch for the calibre of players coming through the JDC system having beaten Luke Littler in the World Championship final in January and had many huge battles with him since.
But he feels the 17-year-old – the reigning JDC world champion – is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the game’s emerging talent.
“I didn’t play in the JDC and for me I wish it was around when I was younger,” said the world number one. “It would have been so much more of a help for me. I was straight into the Development Tour and that was my route of getting myself ready for playing on the main tour.
“But it just proves that the JDC does work, because the way Luke (Littler) started off in it, he worked his way through and he came through to the Development Tour and did really well in that, then he made the world final.
“It just shows that the JDC are giving so much opportunity to the younger generation now – so much opportunity – and it wasn’t around when I was younger.
“For these younger kids now it is, and I think it’s going to create a great foundation for them to go on and be able to create a great career for themselves in darts.
“I think in ten years’ time we’re going to see so many fantastic young players that the sport is going to be bigger than ever.”
Humphries believes the opportunities provided by the JDC – including live-streaming matches, giving players the chance of qualify to play on the Alexandra Palace stage and hosting tournaments in places such as Gibraltar – are contributing hugely to young players’ development in the sport.
“Putting them on the stream, for example, that gives them that bit of extra pressure as well, which is what they'll need when they grow up and play in the senior environment – it really does help them,” he said.
“Playing on the Ally Pally stage, which the JDC has given them the opportunity to do as well, that is absolutely massive. I couldn’t imagine myself being under 18 and playing on the Ally Pally stage, so the opportunity is there for them to benefit themselves and gain experience before they move into the senior level.
“This is something I would have absolutely loved to have when I was a younger person, but these young kids now are fearless.”
Written by Steve Cotton
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