This blind darts league is a bullseye for some in Windsor's blind community
CBC
A new blind darts league in Windsor, Ont., is bringing blind and partially-sighted people together — offering both a sense of inclusion and joy.
"It gives all of us an opportunity to feel like we just belong," said organizer Peter Best, a longtime disability advocate who is blind.
It started with a suggestion at the local Royal Canadian Legion Branch 255 months ago as they brainstormed possible activities for the local blind community, given that there aren't many available to them, Best explained.
"I said, 'Why don't we play darts?' And they said, 'Well wait a minute. You've got blind, visually-impaired people throwing sharp objects around a crowded room?'" Best chuckled.
"I said, 'It sounds perfect.'"
Best and fellow organizer Sharron Jarvis got the green light from the legion, which offered them complimentary use of the space, and started up the league back in February.
While there is a blind darts team in the United Kingdom, Best says that to his knowledge, the Windsor league is the only blind dart group in Canada.
The Windsor league has about nine players, and volunteer score keepers and guides who support the process.
A volunteer will line up players who need guidance at the regular line eight feet away from the dart board, make sure they're centred, facing the right direction, hand them the darts, and then make sure the area is clear before anyone throws the darts.
"We do it very safely... Nobody's been injured and everybody keeps coming back," Best said.
Best's cousin Gary Best has been volunteering as a guide since the league began.
"I'll tell you, they have improved since the beginning and they're getting better," he said, also pointing out that they're using real darts, not plastic ones.
"They're starting to hit the board really good now."
They also compete in different categories based on how much vision different players have: B1 for individuals who are totally blind, B2 for those with light perception and some shadows, and B3 for those with partial sight.
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives will huddle behind closed doors at a policy convention this weekend as some Tories question the party’s direction after nearly eight years in power.
The father of a three-year-old girl that was killed after being struck by a vehicle in Cambridge in mid-December says recent charges laid to the driver bring little comfort and relief.
The start of kindergarten can be a time of excitement or anxiety for parents, guardians and children — and also for Prince Edward Island's education officials as they try to staff schools appropriately.
Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation (NNC)’s proposed hydro project is facing some backlash in Pangnirtung.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will take to the stage Friday for what could be one of the most important speeches of his political career as he tries to convince delegates at the party's Calgary convention to keep him in the job.
As his flight departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport en route to Kuwait via Istanbul, Canadian crypto fugitive Andean Medjedovic was unaware that his globe-trotting lifestyle would soon be halted.
One of the largest taxi companies in Toronto will be down to three wheelchair-accessible cabs by the end of March, as advocates and providers say the city is failing to support accessible taxi drivers.
As a deep freeze continues to envelop southwestern Ontario at the same time municipalities deal with a pressing shortage of road salt, there's a renewed focus on finding different ways to melt road ice.
Dave Lawson is a proud Canadian who has bumper stickers that say "Canada is not for sale." He's fed up with grocery products plastered with maple leaves and patriotic logos that turn out to be American imports.
The Town of Badger has issued an evacuation order for some residents as water levels on the Exploits River continue to rise.
The head of a national seniors' advocacy organization says protecting nursing home residents from sexual abuse is an important but challenging issue.
New data shows Winnipeg's fire-paramedic service fielded hundreds of reports involving the city's homeless population, but one advocate says she expects that number to go down in light of the city's limits on where encampments can be.
Former students of the Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the federal government.