By Tina Depko
It’s Monday night and dartboards in the back corners of various pubs across the city are the centre of cheering, jeering and even celebratory dancing.
Although the competitive spirit behind these Ottawa Pub Dart League games has not changed since they began in 1978, Ottawa’s new anti-smoking bylaw has decreased the number of people participating at these nights.
The Ottawa Pub Dart League, the largest league of its kind in Eastern Ontario, suffered a severe membership blow this season after smoking was banned in the city’s pubs late this summer.
“Two divisions were cancelled, so that is 16 teams that we are short of this year,” says Mike Harmston, public relations director and life-long member of the league.
“And it obviously had something to do with the anti-smoking bylaw.”
The league lost a singles and doubles division, as well as a team division after the drop in membership, leaving six divisions and 48 teams.
Harmston, a smoker himself, says he was not surprised when the teams folded, because the majority of league players are smokers.
He adds that many of the former members went to other leagues outside of Ottawa where they could light a cigarette without being prosecuted.
“When you take darts, beer and smoking, a bylaw that won’t allow you to one of those is going to have an impact,” he says.
“If players can’t adjust or if they can’t concentrate fully on their game because they need a cigarette, they won’t play here anymore.”
Harmston says he is disgusted with the bylaw, and Butch Khouri, manager of Wall Street Bar and Grill on Bank Street, takes this tone on the issue as well.
Khouri has sponsored a team in the Ottawa Pub Dart League for the past four years, but his plan to sponsor two teams for the 2001-2002 season came to a halt when he heard that his flagship team was folding because of thebylaw.
“The original Wall Street team was a group of loyal customers here, and now they are gone because of the anti-smoking bylaw,” Khouri says.
“I tried to convince them to stay, and one member even tried to pick up four new players, but in the end the team folded because they could not smoke in here and I was very disappointed to see them go.”
Despite the large drop in membership, the presence of 48 teams this season proves that some people love the game more than the nicotine.
The new Wall Street Bar and Grill team is a prime example. Although three of the team’s six members smoke, they say they are not going to leave the league any time soon just because of the bylaw.
“We strongly oppose the bylaw and it is a bad decision on behalf of city council, but we would never quit playing darts because of it,” says 33-year-old smoker Katha Selva.
“It didn’t even cross our minds to quit because we love playing darts so much.”
Selva says that not being able to smoke does not affect his concentration or his ability to have a good time.
And fellow teammate Amre Sultan, 26, adds that socializing, not smoking, is one of the best parts of the league.
“These guys are like my family and we enjoy playing darts,” says Sultan.
“It gives us an excuse to get together and socialize and throw a couple of darts at the same time.”
Sultan’s attitude confirms Harmston’s theory that some players might return next season after realizing how much they miss the league’s camaraderie.
“People always go too far to one extreme, and then too far to the other, but it eventually levels off,” Harmston says.
“Darts is still growing in Ottawa, and people are realizing it is a great social game, and although we are concerned that more players will quit next season because of the anti-smoking bylaw, the future of the league still looks good.”