I grew up in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. I have always considered southern Ontario to have the strongest contingent of players in North America.
I got started in darts with my family. My grandfather was a really good player and played until he was in his mid-sixties. Everyone – my mom, dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles all played darts. When I was about six years old, my family would have a little in-house dart league where they would meet with friends once a week to play. Because of that I found myself always watching. By the time I was eight, I was playing quite a bit. By age 10, I started playing in the youth dart league in my area. Ontario has a great youth dart organization.

I believe dart players are made, not born. I feel you can have a little bit of natural talent but after that it’s just hard work. Ages 14 through 16, I remember playing four hours a day. I came home for lunch, practiced for almost an hour and then back to school. After school I would be back on the practice board again as it was just what I wanted to do. You must be dedicated to practice. Practice until your arm falls off so to speak and you will see improvement. Some people are great out of the gate, like Eric Bristow, who was really good early in his career. For me, not that I was a poor player early on, but it wasn’t till about 30 I became the player that I am now. I believe I play better today than ever. I have learned how to play under pressure and things that used to bother me don’t anymore. I am a kind of a rhythm player. So when I’m playing against someone who has a similar style, I get into a sort of rhythm.

The hardest thing is traveling and leaving my family. When I was in England for two weeks it was tough to be gone for so long. Followed by tournaments at various cities on the weekends. Most big events are on the East coast or in England. So living on the West coast makes every flight a minimum six hours.

Kelly, my wife, is a big supporter of my darts and a fan of the sport. We’ve been together since I was 19. If it wasn’t for her support, I wouldn’t do as well in darts as I do. She isn’t a dart player but she has come to a lot of events to show support. My biggest sacrifice for my dart career is time with my family. There is definitely a lot of hours on the board in the garage practicing.