(Compiled late 2016)
Organized competition darts started in the Redlands in the mid 1960’s and the teams playing were part of the Wynnum Darts Association league. By mid 70’s Redlands players decided that we had enough teams in the Redlands to form our own association. The inaugural meeting was held on 2nd September, 1976 at the Cleveland Sands Hotel. The first executive was elected to serve for
15 months to go to the end of December, 1977. The elected committee was as follows:-
President:- Frank Sorensen
Secretary:- Ted Perrett
Treasurer:- Lorna Begg
Vice President:- John Love.(went on to be President 1979 to 1982; 1990 &1991; 1995 to 2007 and is still playing darts with Redlands.) The committee drew up a constitution which was accepted at the next meeting in October. It was decided to play fixtures on Wednesday nights, game fees were set at $3 per team and player registration was $2/player/season. The initial venues used were:- Cleveland Sands Hotel, Redlands R.S.L., Capalaba Tavern and the Redland Bay Hotel. There were 3 divisions playing at the close of 1977. As the association grew so did our list of venues. We were joined with teams from Redlands Soccer Club, Capalaba Soccer Club, Redlands Rugby Union Club, Redlands Rugby League Club, Redlands Sporting Club, Capalaba Bowls Club, Grand View Hotel, Vienna Woods Leisure Centre, Alexandra Hills Australian Rules Club, Sharks Australian Rules Club, Alexandra Hills Hotel, Wellington Point Hotel, Capalaba Indoor Cricket Club & Capalaba Junior Rugby League Club. Organizing the fixtures for a home and away draw was quite a juggling act to accommodate everyone’s preferences. Fortunately we had a dedicated committee who put in tireless hours over the years to make sure everything went smoothly. By 1987 there were 42 teams over 5 divisions. Playing and hosting representative tournaments also meant a lot of organization. As we didn’t have our own premises we used demountable stands which were stored at the Cleveland Showgrounds. For tournaments this equipment would be transported to the venue and assembled by a very devoted team of workers. At the end of the tournament it would all be packed up and taken back to storage. We held the larger tournaments at the Albert Morris Pavilion, the Cleveland Community Hall, the Capalaba PCYC, Capalaba High School Assembly Hall, and upstairs in the Alexandra Hills Hotel. In 1985 the suggestion for own venue was raised by our very forward thinking President – Sandy Nicolson.(1985; 1988 &1989; 1992 to 1994). We started to put our hard earned money into investment strategies to make it work towards our vision of our own clubhouse. We approached council for assistance, their first suggestion was building an annex onto the Albert Morris Pavilion in the showgrounds. In 1988 plans were drawn up, many meetings attended with council, but the idea didn’t reach fruition due to many obstacles at the time. Our junior members became established in 1978 with 8 members aged between 7 and 14 years. The numbers grew and we had more than 20 juniors competing. We were very fortunate and proud to have several of our juniors represent Queensland in the Australian Junior Championships over the years. They were all great ambassadors for Redlands Darts. Unfortunately due to the age restriction of 18 yrs they grew up and our numbers dwindled as we failed to gain new members. Of our previous juniors many are still playing and one previous state representative, Darren Walker, is the current President of RDAI.( 2008 & 2009). During those years we also had members who established an “over 50’s” group and they successfully competed against other associations. They ended up melding into RDAI jurisdiction and we still play their original tournament, the “Darby & Joan” against 5 other associations 4 times a year on a rotational basis for venues. The age has now been dropped to over 45. There is a South Qld. Veterans tournament and a Queensland Darts Association tournament conducted for over 45’s as well. In 1990 we became incorporated. Also that year our efforts for a home venue were still struggling as Council was not eager to assist an association on its own. They suggested we combine with the Touch Football Club and build a combined clubhouse in the showgrounds. In February 1991 the suggestion was a hall next to the Albert Morris Pavilion. The size was to be 20m x 12m costing approximately $160,000. We offered a commitment of $40,000 and all internal work in the hall. Council wanted more from us, so once again we were put on hold. July 1991 we were given suggestions on available land through the council on the proviso we combined with other sporting bodies. These were a block at the end of Beach St., Cleveland and the Judy Holt Reserve above the Rugby Union Club. We also received an offer from the Redlands Junior Rugby League Club with their new clubhouse to be build at Pinklands, unfortunately this was held off due to problems with their land allocation. In October 1992 Council decided that the Beach St land was too close to residential buildings so we then concentrated on the Judy Holt Park land. We needed to establish a combined club. The first name suggested was: “Redlands Indoor Sporting & Recreation Club”. The club would be built in stages once the land agreement was finalized. A meeting with interested clubs, Redlands Darts, Capalaba Fishing Club, Redlands Dog Obedience Club, Cleveland Photography Club, Contract Bridge Club, Chess Club & St. John’s Ambulance, was held on 22nd October, 1992. The council granted the land at Judy Holt Park Reserve in November, 1992 with the hope of a roadway ready by 1st January, 1993 from council. Soil testing was done in conjunction with the Council. The final clubs responsible for the clubhouse becoming a reality were: Redlands Darts, Capalaba Fishing Club, Capalaba Buffalo Club, and Eastern Suburbs Bridge Club. All of these clubs were willing to commit financially towards the building. The name was to become “Redlands Multi Sports Club Inc.”
Since the clubhouse was built in 1994 it has saved the committee and members countless hours of setting up and organization every time we hold a tournament, presentation nights, meetings or training new players. Slowly teams have been forced out of other venues in the Redlands and now most teams play from the Redlands Multi Sports Club Inc. Now in 2008 we are a smaller association, not just in Redlands but everywhere. Things such as shift work, high cost of living, smoking and drinking law changes, have led to widespread effects on memberships. Most of our teams now play from the RMSCI. We are hoping there will be a resurgence and when the new extension is built we will have plenty of room for more teams to play here and support the RMSCI. The extension will be built next year and we will be hosting the Australian Darts Championships here in 2009. This extension will make the venue far more versatile for all the clubs which are an integral part of the success of this investment. We are now in our 40th year (2016) our number of players is still down but we have a good competition under way. We have 2 divisions with approximately 110 players. Our Juniors are building due to coaching on a Friday evening by our now President, Shane Jackson. They are going well and will be competing for positions in the Queensland Team later this year. Apart from our weekly fixtures on a Wednesday night we have a competition on a Thursday night and Social darts on a Friday night. During the year we host some Inter-club tournaments, usually over week-ends. These are open to any spectators who wish to come and watch. Darts is still one of the cheapest sports to compete in. Couple that with the social aspect of this sport and it is certainly a desirable alternative for people who want to compete in something but have limited finances to do so. There is no age limitation so we have the benefit of a wide range of ages and abilities. We look forward to many, many years of competition at this venue we call home. Thank you to all the wonderful people who have helped us to get to this achievement for without their dedicated efforts we would still be struggling finding places to host our fixtures, social games & tournaments.
