LANGFORD, B.C. — Bill Hammond Jr. had dismissed darts as a pub game, before being invited to play the sport competitively. “It’s an adrenaline rush,” Bill smiles. “You get so pumped.” Although he’s won local and provincial championships, the feeling can’t compare to having children. “It feels so good,” Bill smiles before showing a photo of his newborn son sleeping next to a dart. Bill’s son Peyton was three when he started throwing at a magnetic board, before graduating to his dad’s real one. “It’s fun just throwing with dad all the time,” now 17-year-old Peyton Hammond says. And it’s even better when his 16-year-old sister Jayda Hammond joins them. “Dad’s definitely been my biggest supporter,” Jayda smiles. Now throwing darts has become the family’s biggest pastime. “We don’t have a kitchen,” Bill laughs. Instead of one kitchen table, the space is dominated by two dart boards that the whole family (including their mom) played seven days a week during the pandemic. “It was wicked,” Bill smiles. “We had so much fun.” They used a webcam and a dart app to virtually compete with people across country. By the time the pandemic was over, Jayda and Peyton were so good they started winning real contests. “For them to follow in my footsteps, I thought was great,” Bill says. Until Peyton suddenly developed a debilitating mental block called “dartitis” and couldn’t throw. “You can’t let go,” Bill explains. “It’s like (the dart) is stuck to your hand.” “It’s not fun,” Peyton adds. “It’s the worst thing you can ever get (if you’re a dart player).” But — after struggling for months — thanks to the support of his family, Peyton overcame the condition and went on to become a multiple national champion. “It feels good to just show up, do my thing, and have fun,” Peyton says. While Jayda can effortlessly describe how she felt winning a national title too (“It was so amazing”), it’s not as easy for Bill to put the feeling of watching then win into words (“I can’t even explain how emotional it gets.”) But pictures of the dad embracing his children in bear hugs after they become champions hit the bullseye. “Dude! I bawled,” Bill says. “I bawled my eyes out.” You can imagine how many more happy tears were shed when Peyton became the first Canadian youth to win gold at the World Championships before planning to go pro, or when Jayda kept earning trophies and plaques that now fill their kitchen walls. “Coming home and playing darts with my kids is my sanctuary,” Bill smiles. And the greatest prize of all is having found this way to never stop having fun with his family. “It’s a crazy life,” Bill smiles. “But that’s what we do!”
