Darts champ hits bullseye in class

Mr Waites, who works full time as a repairs inspector for Pennine Housing, part of the Together Housing Group, gave a special assembly at Ryburn Valley High

School, Sowerby Bridge, where he was challenged to a darts match by the headteacher and spoke to students about the importance of maths in darts scoring.

He was attending as part of Together Housing’s motivational work in local schools.

The two-time BDO World Champion later ran darts-themed maths workshops with groups of students before signing autographs and posing for selfies.

Student Sophie said: “It’s great to meet a real world champion. Darts is a really fun way of learning maths. I’m going to get my own dartboard now.”

Scott Waites added: “I’ve got a lot from darts and it’s great to be able to give something back and work with children to inspire them not only to get involved in the sport but also to realise the importance of maths.

“I use it in darts and also in my work at Together Housing and it’s important children understand that learning isn’t just for the classroom but also for life after school.”

Headteacher David Lord said it was amazing to welcome and play against a world champion: “Our motto is ‘Strive to Excel’ so it was great to hear from Scott that achieving success comes from building on talent with hard work and dedication.

“A real bonus for us was the message that key skills like maths play an important part in that too.

“All the students got a great deal from the assembly and the work he did with the smaller groups was invaluable at engaging students with learning maths.”

Scott won the BDO World Darts Championship in 2013 and 2016.