Paignton darts coach among just five in the world to achieve prestigious qualification

A lifelong love of darts has seen a Torbay man achieve international recognition as a coach, as he helps nurture the next generation of Luke Littlers.

Brian Ivey is director of the Paignton Darts Academy and has recently become one of only five darts coaches in the world to gain the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA) Level 2 Darts Qualification.

Alongside this, he also holds the PDPA Level 1 and the Junior Darts Corporation Level 1 & 2 coaching certificates.

Brian has turned his long-standing enthusiasm for darts into a passion for coaching, dedicating himself to developing the next generation of players at his academy, with the ultimate ambition of producing a world champion.

His passion for darts began in childhood.

Brian told the Torbay Weekly: “My family always played darts, so as a young child I started playing darts.”

“I played in the Brixham Friday league from the old STC social club and I hit my first league 180 in 1984.”

“I have played competitive darts ever since for teams in Brixham, Paignton, Torquay and Stoke Gabriel.”

However, his journey into coaching began with a conversation with a friend about how they could encourage more people to take up the sport and share their love of darts.

Brian said: “Almost 10 years ago, a friend and I had a conversation about how to get more people playing darts, so together we started the darts academy.”

“At the time ours was the only academy south of Bristol.”

“We became affiliated with the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC).”

“Working with the JDC IN 2020 I helped create the first JDC darts coaching qualification, but due to lockdown it was 2 years later before I actually took their course.”

“A year later I took their level 2 qualification and in the same year I also took their Sightright coaching course.”

In 2025, the Professional Darts Players Association created their own qualification, a level 1 darts coaching course.

Since achieving the level 1, Brian has also gone on to achieve the level 2, making him only one in five in the world to hold this prestigious qualification.

These qualifications are among the highest levels of darts coaching accreditation in the world, equipping coaches like Brian with the skills and knowledge to give their pupils the best possible opportunities to develop as players and reach their potential.

Brian explains why this is so important for him: “As someone who was never a professional player, having qualifications always gave my coaching substance.”

“So when the level 2 was offered I wanted to make sure I was one of the first people to have it.”

“This qualification was not just something you turned up for and got a certificate, you had to prove you could coach and had to work with a student and prove their progress by building a professional portfolio.”

“To be in the first cohort to pass the course and be one of only 5 coaches in the world is incredible.”

Explaining the commitment required to pass the course, Brian said: “In order to achieve this qualification we had to create a coaching portfolio working with our student for 7 sessions over 3 months with the weeks in between sessions filled with training plans.”

“The course also included working with a sports food nutritionist and a sports hypnotherapist who deals with dartitis, a form of the golfer's yips, that causes players to have difficulty releasing the dart.”

“After your portfolio was completed, you then had to be assessed by the PDPA coaches.”

Now in its 11th year, Paignton Darts Academy is the oldest in the South West and attracts around 30 young players every week.

In 2025, he also decided to start coaching adults more frequently.

Brian offers face-to-face coaching, group coaching and competition coaching services.

He added: “Groups up to six per board play training games and traditional fun games as well as the normal 501 style games.”

“We have had juniors travel from as far as Land Ends, Bideford and Exmouth to come to the academy.”

The academy has also helped nurture some impressive young talent, with Brian highlighting two pupils who have gone on to achieve particular success.

He said: “One of these students was Jack Nankevis who has since become one of the best junior players in Britain, he has represented England several times and often wins senior competitions.”

“Another student Pacey Large qualified for the junior world championships in Gibraltar.”

“I was fortunate to be the England B team manager that year and was able to accompany him.”

Brian also reflected on the growing popularity of darts among young people, which he believes has been boosted by the success of teenage sensation Luke Littler, who, at 17, became the youngest-ever World Champion in the history of the sport.

This growing interest in the sport has seen the number of academies grow, with more than 20 now established in Devon and Cornwall alone.

He added: “The quality of the young players in the South West is incredible and the opportunities that are available to them now, means this may not be a pipe dream but a real possibility.”

Brian has big ambitions for the future of Paignton Darts Academy, hoping to develop both its coaching team and its young players.

He said: “I’m hoping that in the next few years we can get more of our mentors trained as qualified coaches and one day we will produce a world champion of our own.”