O'Shea aiming to shape next generation of darts stars

Published on 24 March 2025 at 18:11

CORK darts star John 'The Joker' O'Shea has seen and done it all during his 30 year career in the game.

Now the former World Masters champion is aiming to pass on his extensive knowledge and experience to Ireland's next generation of darts stars.

O'Shea says he's excited by the young talent he sees coming through the ranks in this country, and he reckons with the right guidance and direction they can change the shape of the game here.

It's why he is now setting up his own darts school, The Joker Darts Academy, in Farranfree in Cork.

Speaking to Darts In Ireland, the man known as The Joker, revealed just how seriously he really takes the game.

John said: "There's some amazing young talent coming through and they can produce a massive shakeup of the game in Ireland.

 "But there's a lot more to darts than just playing the game itself.

"There's the mental side to it too, and how you handle the lows. It's important to look after your mental health and have a healthy lifestyle too.

"There's also how you approach a game and prepare yourself for tournaments. When I watch the youth players now I can see the talent but I can also see that a lot of them are still doing many things wrong too.

"I know from my own career that I made a lot of mistakes so I would like to stop the new young players coming through now from making those same mistakes.

"That's what the academy will be all about, and with the right approach, many young players will be able to get a lot out of the game.

"It will be professionally run and the players will have to dress in darts shirts and black trousers just like they would for any tournament."

While he's keen to get stuck into coaching, O'Shea, a former PDC Tour Card holder, is still doing well on the playing front too.

He might be approaching turning 50 soon but that hasn't slowed down his success on the oche.

At the PDC Q School in January, O'Shea was the best performer out of all the Irish there, and came within a whisker of regaining his tour card.

Meanwhile, he's been enjoying some big wins back here in Ireland too, including winning Event 1 at the ADC Winmau Championship Tour on Saturday, as well as the Winmau Irish Belt and the open doubles alongside legendary Irish international Sean MacGowan.

O'Shea said: "It will get very busy with the academy but I certainly plan to keep playing too.

"I did well at Q School and had a running average for the week of around 94, which would usually be good enough to win a card.

"But you need that bit of luck too and it just escaped me this time. The reality with darts is that sometimes you need the other guy to miss to give you one more chance at success.

"It's good to know that I can still reach that PDC tour card standard."

O'Shea says it's great to see the many opportunities that are opening up to Irish players through the ADC.

He added: "There were a few big tournaments around Ireland that disappeared after Covid but the ADC has now come in and filled that gap.

"Players are getting to play in ADC vaults right around the country and it's open to players of all standards, which is great.

"I did very well on Saturday and a lot of that comes down to experience. I know how to prepare myself on the day and there's not much left that could surprise me."

One thing O'Shea is keen to teach young players is just how difficult the life of a darts player can be.

He said most should focus on their education first, and treat darts as a hobby.

He said: "Darts is not as easy a game to play as people might think.

"It can be a tough life, with a lot of lows, which in fairness do the make the highs even better when they do come.

"But you are up there on your own with nowhere to hide. It can be tough, especially if things aren't going well.

"I've had to sacrifice a lot over the years but you have to do that if you want to succeed in the game."

He said young players should set themselves realistic goals of what they can achieve in darts.

He said: "A PDC tour card might seem like the biggest goal of all but that too is a tough life with a lot of the players still having to work while on the Pro Tour, sure I've done that myself.

"So players should be realistic about they can achieve and take out of the game.

"A young player needs to concentrate on their education first and setting themselves up right and then later they can see what approach they can take to darts.

"There are many opportunities in the game now, which is a good thing, and many young Irish players can get a lot out of it, but they need to put the work in too."

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