A young darts referee from Darlington is looking to make his way to the pinnacle of the sport.
Nile Gott recently had a taste of the big time while refereeing darts star Chris Dobey, and has outlined his hopes for the future exclusively to TUXtra.
Nile’s darting interest started as a child with his family members being prolific local league players. When the BDO Championships were on BBC One, Nile said he would always watch his darting idols show their skills.
On refereeing, Nile, in his early twenties, said he had always been fascinated by refereeing with inspirations including officials Paul Hinks, Bruce Spendley and Russ Bray.
“I’ve always been great with my maths,” he said.
“When it came to going to local competitions, I would mark the game by giving a call for the score and would always be asking if I could referee the final.
“I then got approached by a great person in Andrew Kelly who was playing for Cleveland County Darts and he asked me to come to a game in Devon and ever since it gave me a spark to try pursuing a career in it.”
Recently, Nile has started refereeing exhibitions with some of the best players to play the sport, including some who are involved in the current Premier League.
He said: “From just a little boy watching tungsten titans duel it out on the telly to then refereeing for them, it makes me feel brilliant.”
The Premier League might be his goal, but for now Nile has fixed his sights on securing an opportunity to officiate at the Modus Super Series in Portsmouth.
