Morinville family heading to Budapest for World Darts Masters 

by Stephen Dafoe 

Morinville resident Robbie Mills, his daughter Hailey, and his son RJ will represent Canada at the World Darts Federation (WDF) World Masters in Budapest, Hungary, from Oct. 9 to 13, 2024. The Mills believe this is the first time a father, son, and daughter trio will compete at the event, highlighting their talents and bond as a darts family. 

The senior Mills is no stranger to professional-level darts, having earned the Alberta Men’s No. 1 spot for the last two years and the 2024 Alberta Provincial Championship. Mills is Canada’s second-ranked player this year, a move up from being named Canada’s third-ranked player in 2023. His accomplishments earned him a spot at the 2023 WDF World Cup in Esbjerg, Denmark, where he took the bronze medal. That placement earned him his invitation to the October Worlds Darts Masters invitation-only event. 

Those accomplishments are impressive enough, but then his son and daughter qualified. 

“Hailey and RJ qualified through the youth national system,” Robbie Mills explained. “They both made Team Alberta: RJ last year, Hailey this year. Based on their placement and the criteria that the WDF requires, they qualified and received their invites to Budapest as well.” 

A long love of darts 

Robbie Mills has been involved in darts for the past 28 years, first taking up the sport in 1996.  

“I was 16 years old in high school, sitting at the cafeteria table over lunch. Friends of mine were talking about going to darts on a Thursday night at their youth club, and I was like, ‘Darts! What is that?’Mills recalled. “I decided to show up and borrowed a set of darts. I’ve kind of been playing ever since.”  

Daughter Hailey and son RJ took up darts in the past couple of years when they were 10 and 15, respectively. Now 12 and 17, darts have become an important part of their lives. 

For Hailey, the appeal of darts is in the environment. “Lots of people are there to support you, and they’re very encouraging,” Hailey Mills said. “So, it’s a good environment to be around.” 

For RJ, it was an opportunity to share the joy of competition and victory.  

“I’d always watch dad play or watch some kind of professional play on TV, and I always thought it was cool,” RJ Mills recalled. ” I never had an interest in it until October, about a year-and-a-half ago, when I broke my leg. I couldn’t do much. We’d be travelling all around Alberta and Canada for all these tournaments for dad. He kept winning and winning and winning, and I got a spark from watching him win. I was like, ‘You know, I want to feel that feeling.’ So that feeling just really got me into it.”  

For the senior Mills, there has always been a hunger and itch to keep playing. From his beginnings at 16, Mills played competitively, initially at the youth level, as his children do now. In his second year, Mills made the Nova Scotia team and continued to compete at that level until age 23, when he made the adult team several times. Mills entered the military at 25 and was kept busy until 2016-2017. 

“It’s just kind of life took over and got in the way,” he said. “We got posted out here in 2018, and I picked them [the darts] up and shook off the rust, and here we are today.” 

Mills and his family are familiar faces on the Alberta darts circuit, whether it is Robbie’s playing Friday Night Jitney at the Crown and Anchor Pub in Castle Downs, The Opus Jitney, or at Jasper Place Legion. The family also travels to the various Darts Alberta ranking tournaments and the occasional event in Saskatchewan or B.C. 

“We’re a travelling dart family,” Robbie Mills said. “The darts atmosphere is amazing, welcoming to the kids. Darts Alberta has a great foundation in place where youth are allowed to play with adults. It just creates a good, fun atmosphere for everybody.” 

Budapest Bound 

With their trip to Hungary a month and a half away, the family is looking forward to the trip and the competition. 

Daughter Hailey said she is excited about the opportunity. “It’s a little nerve-wracking, but just a cool opportunity. I’m excited,” she said. 

Son RJ is also ready for the opportunity. “I’m looking forward to taking it all in, seeing what it’s like to just throw these little darts halfway across the world,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because it’s hard to achieve these things. They’re not given to you. You have got to earn it, so we must take it [the experience] all in.” 

For Robbie Mills, there is an anticipation of having the feeling of his World Cup experience. “For myself, it’ll be the feeling of Denmark all over again, that competition level,” he said. “This will be a different experience in that I’ve never been to Budapest. I’ve competed at the WDF World Cup before. Masters is a little different, so I’m looking forward to that change and challenge.” 

As the Mills family prepares for Budapest, they focus on the challenge ahead. Representing Canada on the world stage is a significant achievement, and they’re ready to compete at their best, knowing the hard work it took to get there.