The DDA, formed in 1971, exists to promote darts in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and is based principally in Dallas County. The DDA is a steel-tip dart league.
League play is based on caliber of teams, with play starting at the “Rookie” level, and advancing up to “B”, “A-2”, “A-1”, and “Classic”. Teams may only play at the “Rookie” level for one season before moving to the “B” level. Teams play on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, in divisions comprised of from 6 to 8 teams. If the division is a 6-team division, the season will last 15 weeks, with each team playing each other team 3 times. For the 8-team divisions, seasons will last 14 weeks, and each team will see all the other teams twice. Each team consists of from 6 to 10 players.
The format of play for “Regular” league is 6 games of 301 Double-In/Double-out for“B” and “A-2” leagues / 6 matches of 501 Straight-Start/Double-Out, best 2 of 3 legs, for the “A-1” and “Classic” league, 2 games of 601 Double-In/Double-Out Triples, and 3 games of American Killer Cricket Doubles. The team with 6 or more match wins is awarded a match point. So, for an 11-game match, if team ‘A’ wins 7 games, and has 4 losses, the match score would be 8-4.
In addition, on Thursday nights, the DDA offers “Mixed Doubles” league, consisting of teams from 4 to 8 players, with equal numbers of men and women when an even number of players is on the team. Depending upon caliber of the players, and their regular league participation level, the team may play in the “Open” division, or the “B/A-2” division. Format of play for the two divisions is the same; 4 games of 501 Double-In/Double-Out doubles (one man/one woman), 4 games of American Killer Cricket doubles, and 1 final game of 501 Double-In/Double-Out.
After normal league season play, each league has a “Playoff” bracket, composed of division winning teams, runners up teams, and possibly some wild card teams (depending on the number of divisions of play at each league level). The winner of the Playoff is then the Champion of that league for that season, and, along with top-winning division winners from each night, is entitled to move to the next upper league level (for “Regular” league play… move-up for Mixed Doubles league is based on different criteria).
The DDA is governed by a board of directors, which meets once each month, generally on the 2nd Friday of the month. The board discusses league business, handles match protests, and in general, oversees the operations of the association. The board consists of elected officers, and league nightly directors, as well as selected representatives of the pubs that participate in the league.
The Vanguard (Singles) and Gemini (Doubles) formats were added starting with the Spring Season, 2001. Official Rules were adopted and accepted for these leagues at the CPB Meeting prior to the Fall 2001 Season.