A new social darts club has launched in Armagh city and is already attracting strong interest from the local community.
Maxx Darts Club is running a weekly Thursday night event aimed at bringing people together in a relaxed but competitive environment.
The club runs every Thursday, from 8:30pm to 10:30pm, and is completely free to play, with all over-16s welcome regardless of experience level.
Since launching, numbers have steadily grown, with players enjoying a variety of competition formats each week. Organisers rotate formats to keep things fresh and ensure every participant gets at least three matches per night.
One of the club organisers, Anto, said the idea originally came from casual games at home.
“I play darts regularly with a few friends at our houses, and we’ve often talked about setting up a proper darts club.” he explained.
“Almost all darts clubs and leagues locally are run through pubs, and usually you have to be a local to that pub to play. We wanted to create something away from the temptations of alcohol – somewhere players can leave the house for a couple of hours, have a bit of competitive craic, and get home without the risk of arriving back worse for wear.”
The gym has proven to be the perfect venue for the club, with eight boards set up and plenty of space to create a lively match-night atmosphere.
“The space works brilliantly. We can run a lot of matches within two hours, everyone gets multiple games, and there’s a real buzz in the place on a Thursday night,” said Anto.
Unlike traditional knockout competitions where players can be eliminated early, Maxx Darts Club uses formats such as round robins and Swiss-style competitions to keep everyone involved throughout the evening.
The long-term aim is to build towards a structured weekly darts league as interest continues to grow.
There is also added excitement on the night thanks to sponsorship from within the wider Maxx brand.
Maxxpresso Drive Thru provides weekly prizes, awarding a £10 voucher for the last two 180s thrown each night and for the highest checkout. Meanwhile, Maxx Life Gym has put up a £100 cash prize for the first player to hit a “Big Fish” 170 checkout — with the prize increasing by £10 every week, it remains unclaimed.
Looking ahead, there are ambitions to expand into youth development.
“We’d love to introduce a junior darts club for under-18s in the future. There’s clear interest, but we want to make sure it’s properly organised, safe, and supported by people willing to help coach the kids.
“If we can get that right, it could be a brilliant opportunity for young people locally.”
With community at its core, Maxx Darts Club is positioning itself as a social alternative to traditional pub leagues — offering competitive sport in a welcoming, alcohol-free setting.
The darts night is organised via their WhatsApp group. Anyone interested can request to be added to the group simply by contacting the Maxx Darts Club Facebook page.
