History - Player Profile

The Satherley Family

I met with Kevin Satherley and Roger Gregory on a chilly Sunday afternoon at their usual haunt – The Palliser Hotel.  Chrissie Satherley wandered in a few minutes later – she had been down the road to take some stew she had made for a past team mate who was now elderly and bedridden with the flu. 

Picture of Satherley

4 Fun have been playing out of the Palliser for over 20 years - Maureen Cooley got Chrissie into darts and she started playing for the RSA All Stars. Heather Chapman was the captain and Ray Harrison was also in the team. The All Stars played out of the old RSA. Kevin would stay at home and baby-sit the girls.  Soon he got talked into playing, and he started playing for Fords with Graham Reardon and Allan Sneddon.  Chrissie knitted him a blue jersey to match the team.  Kevin played out of the Glendale Kindergarten and Bella Royal lent them some trestles to use.  Kevin found sitting on the little seats a bit hard.  Every darts night they had to set up and pack up afterwards and the floors had to be washed before they left so there were some very late nights.

After being denied “A Most improved player Trophy” which Chrissie worked real hard at achieving in her 1st year of darts, she and Kevin decided to start their own team “4 Fun” their home was the Palliser.  The name and venue are still the same 20 odd years later.  Kevin’s Mum and Dad and Chrissie’s dad were all part of the team – all playing with “bomber darts and feathered flights” Roger Gregory started playing the very first night and is still part of the team.  Tui Cherie was another member of the team.  Her husband also played from the Palliser and they called their team “The Palliser’s” but the team did not want a woman in the team so she joined “4 Fun” Picture of Satherley

Kevin doesn’t remember who he was playing when he hit his first 180 in 1996.  His best year was 2000 when he got two in the one year.  Chrissie remembers hers well - it was November 2001 when she was playing Summer League.  Larry Gough had asked them to play Summer League so they put in a team and have done every year since.  They called their team “The Bunch”.  Barry Hughes was in the team and he got them all purple shirts with their name on it.  They have finally over the last year, given the Summer League away.

Both Kevin and Chrissie think they have a few more years left, as this year they have all four girls playing darts.  The proud parents are watching the four of them blossom at darts and  get a real kick out of it. Chrissie has been on the WDA committee in the early years and even played reps for a few years but gave it all away when she became pregnant with Casey.  As she got bigger with her pregnancy she got teased about having feet over the Oche.   They both enjoy the social side now have no wish to go further.  They are very proud of their girls and got a real kick from Sonya hitting her first 180 the other night and – doing the dance around the table.  It makes going to darts worthwhile and they both said the girls have given them a renewed interest. 

Sonya got her first 180 at darts 5th June this year though she gets plenty at home practicing.  Sonya started in the Juniors and went to the Junior Nationals at Christchurch at the time.  Amy started when she was 18 and scored her first 180 after 3 months beating her mother by getting 180 in April 2001. Dawn was the only one this year not playing darts. Chrissie asked her and was surprised when she agreed to play much to the delight of both her parents. Picture of SatherleyPicture of Satherley The youngest of the family, Casey, is now playing for the Juniors. She also goes to Ladies League every second Tuesday and plays in the team on a Thursday night.  Casey has just finished 101 in three darts so another milestone for one of the darting families of Wainui Darts.  Sonya’s friend since her kindy years Sam Gouch plays in the team and now Casey has her friend Taylor join the team as well.  They have now got grandchildren the eldest being 10. So who knows when they think they have no more left the grandchildren might spur them on again!

Interviewed by Sophie Neilson

Joan Croft (Neill)

I first started playing darts for Wainuiomata in 1989 when a group of wives decided that they too would do as their ex soccer playing husbands did every Thursday night and start up a darts team.  We were called the Soccer Follies and were based at the Soccer Club rooms with the rest of our teams, Soccer Gold, Silver & Bronze.  We were Wainuiomata’s first all Ladies Dart team. wainui-soccer-follies_edited-1.jpg Another first, we were involved in with these teams was to introduce a darts uniform.  We later moved to other venues like the Pencarrow Hall and Wainuiomata College cafeteria before settling at The Riverside Hall with Soccer Gold (who were now named The Nomads).  It was then that we changed our name to The Riverside Follies.

Those early days were great and we played some good teams at a number of neat venues, like The Hot Shots (Old RSA in Wood Street, Wainuiomata), The High Flights (The team from Brugger Industries), The Swamp Rats (at the Empire Hotel) & Kowhai (who played from a fabulous games room at one of their players house in Kowhai Street), just to name a few.

In those days I regularly played for the rep team and also competed in the Maori/Pakeha Tournament which was a held annually at the Tavern.

Many years later after a darts trip to Christchurch and a few drinks in the Akaroa Hotel, we decided on another name change and we have been known since as the CL8’s.  A name which at first had a few of the teams thinking about what exactly did CL8’s stand for.  I was the only original team member left when the team folded 2007. In 2008 I am now playing for a new team “Griffins Brownie Points” after many years playing for CL8’s. 

I still enjoy my darts on a social level and I have made many lifelong friends through the Wainuiomata Darts Association”. One player comes to mind instantly, the late Jean Harrison.

Interviewed By Anne Mackle