Dear Associate Member,

You will be aware that PDC tournament play is set to resume in July with a handful of ProTour events in the form of the ‘Summer Series’ followed by the World Matchplay.

While the PDC are understandably and correctly prioritising these events and the backlog of ProTour tournaments as they revise the seasonal calendar, we can assure you that you have not been forgotten.

Planning for a resumption of Challenge Tour and Development Tour tournaments is more logistically challenging and it is impossible to make any firm commitments while current restrictions are in place.

Both the PDPA and PDC can assure all participants on these Tours that safety, wellbeing, and fairness will be at heart of the decision making process going forward.

PDC Chief Executive Matthew Porter said: “We’d like to reassure all Challenge and Development Tour players that they certainly haven’t been forgotten about, and we very much hope to be able to continue those tours in some way this year to give players on those tours further opportunity to compete within a PDC environment.

“Much of the reality of that will depend on whether or not we would need to create ‘bubble’ environments as we are doing for the Summer Series, as they are very costly and place onerous requirements on players which may not be as practical when you are dealing with semi-professional players in many cases.

“Once we have clarity over the August events in respect of whether or not we can stage them as normal, we’ll make an announcement but in the meantime we would urge players to be aware of the financial risks of making travel plans without insurance or cancellation options.”

As your Players Association, the PDPA recognises the importance of staying in contact with all of our members regularly and particularly while we are unable to do so in person at tournaments.

With this in mind, we are developing a series of information, education and community initiatives aimed at connecting with players on the Challenge and Development Tours.

We will shortly be launching our ‘Prepare to be a Pro’ series, in which we are working with several partners to provide helpful tips and guidance on what you can do away from the dartboard to help your career.

The series will include webinars, info-graphics and articles on numerous relevant issues ranging from mind management to money management.

Please keep an eye on your inbox and our website and social media channels for further updates.

We appreciate your continued patience during what has been an uncertain time for all of us.

In the meantime, we would like to remind you of some of the benefits you could be utilising as an associate member of the PDPA: –

Thrive – Mental Wellbeing App
All PDPA members have free access to the Thrive Mental Wellbeing App in order to help you deal with the common problems you may be facing.

The app can help you manage your mental health, emotional wellbeing, stress and anxiety with a range of simple techniques that you can practice in less than five minutes.

Simply search for ‘Thrive Mental Wellbeing App’ on the app store or via google play, set up a new account and use the activation code PDPA2017 – this will secure your free subscription.

Thrive have also published a series of free webinars that you can access here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT6USzzJdk6a4_dajecbkPry1qkU40r-0

DartConnect
The PDC and PDPA have made a special arrangement with DartConnect to provide all PDPA Members with dedicated online practice groups during this period of social distancing.

All current registered PDPA members are eligible to participate with their respective “tours”. You can now compete at will, under the PDC banner, against fellow tour mates, while keeping your darting skills sharp, until in-person competition resumes.

This is a FREE program. All you need is a FREE Guest account. It is important that you use your personal, non-shared email. This will need to match the email used with your PDPA account.

PDPA Virtual Coffee Mornings
PDPA Virtual Coffee Mornings were established during the suspension of the 2020 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We continue to offer the option to join PDPA Directors in live video meetings to give members an opportunity to connect with the PDPA and each other, and to ask questions or raise concerns in a friendly and casual environment.

If you would like to take part in a PDPA Coffee Morning (or afternoon) please e-mail info@pdpa.co.uk to express your interest.

Financial Advice
The PDPA has an official Taxation and Accountancy Partner and an official Wealth Management Partner – both organisations offer our members a free initial consultation.

For more information on our Accountancy Partner Griffiths & Pegg visit: https://www.pdpa.co.uk/pdpa/accountancy/

For more information on our Wealth Management Partner Prosperity Wealth visit: https://www.pdpa.co.uk/prosperity-wealth-management/

This communication has also been e-mailed directly to all PDPA members who compete on the Challenge Tour and/or Development Tour.