When Azu Munkhbayasgalan wanted more out of her darts career, Colorado called.
Munkhbayasgalan got hooked on darts while growing up in Mongolia, but as her skills progressed, she needed to go somewhere she could find more opportunities in the sport.
So eight months ago, she left her family behind in Mongolia and moved to Colorado. Here, the darts scene has been attracting new talent, expanding its competitive options and working hard to develop its next generation of top-ranked players.
Munkhbayasgalan is one of those players. The Cherry Creek High School junior is No. 16 in the World Darts Federation girls rankings after winning the Las Vegas Open Girls Youth Title last month.
“There’s more places to play darts over here than in Mongolia,” said Munkhbayasgalan, who now lives with her cousin. “The transition has been a little bit hard, getting adjusted to a new culture and environment, but darts has helped me feel at home. It’s helped me learn English to help me talk more. It’s helped me fit in, helped me feel more comfortable.
“My first goal is to win a (youth) world championship. After that, I want to play in the Professional Darts Corporation (the PDC, the world’s premier tour) and be something really amazing. I have big dreams in this sport.”
Europe remains the epicenter of the darts world, with Asia at No. 2. But to Munkhbayasgalan’s point, Colorado has turned into a worthy outpost to cultivate interest in the game.
Ground Hog Open darts tournament at The Mirage Sports Bar in Littleton, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 03, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Around the metro area, there’s the long-established Rocky Mountain Dart Association, which runs leagues and tournaments at local bars, as well as Dart Professionals of the West (DPOW). The latter is aimed at more competitive play and those who want to stair-step their way from local tournaments into the Championship Darts Corporation (CDC).
The CDC is the top darts organization in North America and it, along with the more far-reaching World Darts Federation, acts as a feeder for the Euro-centric PDC.
Greeley’s Kaidon Newberry is one of those players who, like Munkhbayasgalan, has the ultimate goal of making it to the PDC. Newberry, who only started playing darts about two years ago, won the grand finals for the Dart Players of Colorado (a subset of DPOW) in December.
That win earned the 27-year-old $2,500 as well as a two-year CDC tour card. It was also an omen for Newberry, who last year took a step back from driving trucks to focus more on darts. He finished 2023 as No. 19 in the American Darts Organization men’s rankings.
“I made good money truck driving, almost six figures a year, but I wasn’t happy doing it,” Newberry said. “I didn’t have the time to practice darts, didn’t have the time to travel to tournaments. After that first year of darts where I really started to find my stride, I was able to make an extra $300 to $400 a week at darts (in 2023). So I was able to take a job that pays less and still be able to supplement my income enough to live a happy and comfortable life.”
Professional darts player Kaidon Newberry from Greeley Colorado practices before another match during the Ground Hog Open at The Mirage Sports Bar in Littleton, Colorado on Saturday, Feb. 03, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Newberry has his sights set on another leap forward in 2024. The next step is getting good enough for “Q School” in Europe, where the former college lacrosse player would have a shot to earn a PDC tour card.
“This year is going to be a growing year, fine-tuning my technique and dealing with stress and pressure better,” Newberry said. “Then come this November, I’ll take a look at my game and see where I’m at. If I’m hitting the numbers I want to hit, and I think I can compete with the Europe crowd, then I’ll fly over to Germany in January for Q School.
“I want to keep going for my darts dream, so I’m going all out on it to see where it takes me.”
Beyond winning and losing, the state’s darts scene also provides consistent camaraderie at places like The Mirage Sports Bar in Littleton and The Famous Door 2 in Aurora, both of which are home to one of the state’s top leagues, Double Vision Darts.
For Littleton resident Tanja Bencic, that league and her journey in darts over the past 11 years has presented her with purpose. In a sport with no age barriers, the 48-year-old is currently No. 12 in the ADO women’s rankings.
Tanja Bencic practices before a match during the Ground Hog Open at The Mirage Sports Bar in Littleton, Colorado on Saturday, Feb. 03, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
The darts community has been Bencic’s support system throughout the last decade, as she went through a divorce, losing her brother to a heart attack and breaking her leg after falling in her snowy driveway.
“I took a couple weeks off (after my brother’s death), but that’s it,” Bencic said. “I jumped back in more than ever because it was the best form of therapy I could think of. … My kids also both moved out-of-state just a couple weeks before he died, so everything crashed around me all at once. Darts was my only steady. Darts saved me from depression.”
Professional darts player Tanja Bencic pulls her darts while practicing before a match during the Ground Hog Open at The Mirage Sports Bar in Littleton on Saturday, Feb. 03, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Behind the development of Munkhbayasgalan, Newberry, Bencic and countless others is someone Newberry dubs the “godmother of Colorado darts,” DPOW executive director Brenda Roush.
Roush has been a fixture in the Colorado darts sphere since 1993, both as a player (she was on Team USA for the ADO from 2008 to ’14) and now as an organizer and promoter.
She helped coordinate the Ground Hog Open, one of the largest tournaments in Colorado, held earlier this month at The Mirage. In that tournament, Colorado Springs’ Emily Kaufhold and renowned American player Leonard Gates of Houston earned invitations to compete in the 2024 WDF World Masters by winning their respective singles events.
Tanja Bencic, left, talks with executive director of Dart Professionals of the West, Brenda Roush during the Ground Hog Open at The Mirage Sports Bar in Littleton, Colorado on Saturday, Feb. 03, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Roush emphasizes her focus is “to provide opportunities for our players to advance in both the amateur and professional side of the sport.” And she is the one helping lay out a blueprint for success for young players with PDC aspirations, such as Munkhbayasgalan and Newberry.
“She’s been there and done it all — she’s done national play, international play, she’s ate, breathed and slept darts her entire life,” said Tim Cherven, who has been playing darts in Colorado for 34 years. “As hard as she played the game, she also has invested in the game to help foster it, bring it along and keep it relevant here in Colorado. She’s immersed herself in the development of the game and making it a better sport for everybody here.”
With Roush’s help, the Colorado darts scene is thriving, even as its competitors balance 9-to-5 jobs with the expenditures the sport requires to compete on a serious level.
“It’s about picking and choosing what (tournaments) you can afford to get to, and having the time to be able to invest in it,” Cherven said. “But no doubt, Colorado definitely has a handful of players who can play with the best in the nation.”
Ground Hog Open darts tournament at The Mirage Sports Bar in Littleton, Colorado on Saturday, Feb. 03, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)