Former World Masters champion and Lakeside finalist Lorraine Winstanley still has her sights on winning tournaments, but now has more than one eye on developing darts’ future.
Winstanley has enjoyed a hugely successful career and is still going strong, very much targeting a maiden World Championship win after reaching the final in 2019, where she ran into an inspired Mikuru Suzuki. A beauty therapist by trade, the 47-year-old is also dedicating much of her time to helping the next generation of arrow throwers come through as part of her role as Target Darts’ head of youth development.
Since taking the role on from another darting legend in Darryl Fitton in 2021, Winstanley has thoroughly enjoyed playing a role in helping the latest wave of talented younger players achieve their dream of playing professional darts.
“There are so many things that we look at,” Winstanley told Fen Regis Trophies. “Having natural talent helps.
“We look at how much people are playing and what they are playing in, and obviously results.
“There are so many things, like their attitude on and off the oche – that comes into play.”
The former Lakeside runner-up added: “Very young players up to the point they are able to play on the development tour fall under my remit, so it’s quite a big age range.”
Elite 1
Elite 1 is the development programme that is run by Target Darts that Winstanley is responsible for and is working to produce the sport’s most exciting prospects. The mentoring programme was launched in 2018, with the intention of finding and nurturing the best young darting talent.
Youngsters on the Elite 1 programme have access to training consultations and 24/7 support from Winstanley as head of youth development.
“I absolutely love it,” Winstanley said of her role. “This is my dream job, it really is. I’m so proud of all the youngsters and it has certainly opened my eyes to a whole new darting world…they’re the future of our beloved sport.
“They all need nurturing and looking after to ensure that our sport goes in the right direction for years to come.”
In its five years, the Elite 1 programme has already produced some exciting young talent, such as James Beeton and Eleanor Cairns, who spoke to Fen Regis Trophies at St Helens Darts Academy which has recently partnered with Elite 1.
“Whatever they (St Helens Darts Academy) are doing, they do it right and they are open to everybody,” Winstanley said. “They play their own tournaments, and they have their own practice routines.
“They’ve been established for a long time. All these volunteers and coaches have a wealth of experience behind them.
“As part of my job, we help to support academies all over the country.”
World Championship Dream
While Winstanley takes pride in her role as head of youth development at Target Darts, that certainly doesn’t mean that she is finished winning darts trophies. Not by a long shot.
The England international still has her sights firmly set on winning a world title before she is finished, though she admits that the travel constraints of competing on the World Darts Federation (WDF) tour means there are no guarantee she will qualify for Lakeside.
“My ultimate goal has always been to be world champion,” Winstanley exclaimed. “Life gets in the way and things change.
“That will always be in the back of my mind and when I qualify, I give it my best shot, but because there is so much travelling, and of course because I have this role, I’m not doing as many WDF tournaments.
“Therefore, there is no guarantee that I am going to qualify [for the World Championship].”
Winstanley does hold hope, though, that Lakeside does not represent her only hope of achieving her dream. The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) have introduced a number of women’s events in recent years and, while there has yet to be a revival of the PDC Women’s World Championship, Winstanley is excited to see what the future holds.
“The PDC have taken women’s darts by storm by introducing the women’s series,” she said.
“They have already moved forward by doing the Women’s Matchplay, so it will be interesting to see what else comes off the back off that and see if they could throw in a Women’s UK Open or Grand Prix.
“I really think that is the future for women’s darts.”
The Buxton thrower is still very much going strong and is determined to prove both to herself, and her pupils, that age is just a number when it comes to darts. If you would like to find out more about the Elite 1 programme, please head to Target Darts’ website here.
By Aaron Gratton
