The PDPA and Membership

Formation
Membership Fees
Events
Current PDPA Board
What The PDPA does

Formation:

The Professional Darts Players Association ‘PDPA’ initially formed in the early 1980’s and reconstituted under the auspices of the Sports Industries Federation in 2001.

The PDPA now work in full partnership with The Professional Darts Council ‘PDC’ and the governing body The Darts Regulatory Authority ‘DRA’ The PDPA also joined the ‘Professional Players Federation ‘PPF’ in 2014, which is the national organisation for the professional player associations in the United Kingdom and covers every sport.

Its status has changed from a players union to an association working in partnership with the sports promoter ‘PDC’ and its governing body ‘DRA’

NOTE: Entry to all PDC Pro-Tour events is FREE to any PDPA Member.

Membership Fees:

Membership is annual which concludes and starts on the World Championship end date, if your not a full PDPA Member you will need to go to Q-School to start membership for that season.

Full Membership: £500 + £50 DRA Fee
Q-School Membership: £400 + £50 DRA Fee
Honorary & Directors Membership: FREE
Day Membership: (For European Qualifiers only, as a supplement to their entry fee with a maximum of 2 in one season, any further entries will be subject to the European Tour Membership criteria)
2% levy: As per rules and constitution, all players are subject to a 2% levy on all prize money won at all PDC events.

PDC Events:

All TV Events: World Championship, World Grand Prix, World Matchplay, Premier League, UK Open, World Series, World Cup, Players Championship Finals, Grand Slam of Darts, European Championship, The Masters. UK & European Q-School: For any player by virtue of their entry fee Players Championship: Tour Card Holders Only with CTOoM Top Ups European Tour: Tour Card Holders (Associate Members/Day Members via qualifiers) Challenge Tour: PDPA Members who didn’t win a Tour Card at Q-School. Women’s Tour: Any female player over 16 years old.

PDC Qualifiers:

World Championship, Grand Slam, World Series: Are for PDC Tour Card Holders only.
UK Open Amateur Qualifiers. Any none Tour Card Holder who does not qualify via the CTOoM/DTOoM is eligible to play in the Rileys Amateur Qualifiers.

Other Events:

Development Tour: You are now required to be a PDPA/PDC member (This Membership and your DRA Fees are FREE) You have to be aged between 16 – 23 on the 3rd of January of that year. Challenge Tour: PDPA Members who attended Q-School & didn’t win a Tour Card. Women’s Tour: Any female player over 16 years old. JDC Academy: You do not need to be a member of the PDPA/PDC: This is for any players under the age of 18, they are the only darts academies endorsed by the PDPA & the PDC.

The PDPA Board

Mr Peter Manley / Chairman
Email: peter@pdpa.co.uk Mobile: 07932 714229

Mr Alan Warriner-Little / Full Time CEO
Email: awl@pdpa.co.uk Mobile: 07798 693998

Mr Andy Scott / Director, Tables and Statistics
Email: andy@pdpa.co.uk Mobile: +44 (0) 7956 180180

Mr Jacques Nieuwlaat / Director / European Delegate
Email: jacques@pdpa.co.uk Mobile: +31 652 007358

Mr Jamie Caven / Director / Youth Darts
Email: jamie@pdpa.co.uk

Miss Nicola Johnston / PDPA Admin
Email: nicola@pdpa.co.uk & info@pdpa.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1228 594273

Mr Chris Murphy / PDPA Communications Manager
Email: chris@pdpa.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 7587 930563

PDPA Enquiries / PDPA Office: The PDPA, Unit 34, Carlisle Enterprise Centre, James Street, Carlise, Cumbria, CA2 5BB, UK: Office hours Monday to Friday 10.00 to 16.00. Out of office hours via email, mobile and DM on Social Media.

Tel: +44 (0) 1228 594273 Mobile: +44 (0) 79464 78718 Email: info@pdpa.co.uk Twitter @Pdpa_darts Facebook @PDPA.darts Instagram @pdpa_darts

WHAT THE PDPA DOES

The PDPA was originally formed 35 years ago. With the aim to look after the interests of the Professional Darts Player: with a pro-active chief executive and administrative staff, supported by a chairman and board of directors.

We aim to provide a true voice and benefits for its members whilst helping them achieve their ambitions within the Professional Darts arena. We work fully in partnership with the PDC, DRA and the JDC.

The PDPA is the only darts association. Its full mandate is to “protect, improve and negotiate the conditions, rights and status of all professional players by collective bargaining agreements and negotiations” with the PDC, the DRA and any other relevant bodies.

The health and wellbeing of our members is our priority, with our partners ‘Sporting Chance’ and ‘Thrive’ we offer full emotional support throughout their careers, and we are a full signatory for the Mental Health Charter for recreation and sport.

All PDC Players are required to be a member of the PDPA to play in any PDC sanctioned events as per PDC Rule 1.1.

How many players do the PDPA represent?

There are 128 PDC Tour Card Holders ‘Full Members’ and a further 700 players who entered Q-School but did not get a Tour Card, these are ‘Associate Members’ for the year. Along with these, there are also 250 Development Tour players who are also now required to be members (Junior) and over 200 Day members (For European Tour Qualifiers Only)

All PDPA Members must abide by the PDPA Constitution and Code of Conduct.

Who is on the PDPA?

Peter Manley – Chairman
Alan Warriner-Little – Chief Executive (Also acting Secretary)
Andy Scott – Director (Vice Chairman)
Jacques Nieuwlaat – Director
Jamie Caven – Director
Nicola Johnston – Administration
Chris Murphy – Communications Officer

All PDPA Board Members are voted onto the board on a 2 year rotational basis as per PDPA Constitution. We also have an annual AGM (October/November) where members can attend and vote or send in proxy votes to determine suggestions, proposals, ideas and comments.

How do you get on the PDPA board:

There shall be a permanent Board of up to six, including the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive. The members of the Board shall be elected for two years at the Annual General Meeting and may serve two or more successive periods of office if re-elected. The Board shall have power to co-opt additional members. A quorum at all Board meetings shall consist of three. If you require to be nominated, you would: when the AGM paperwork is forwarded nominate yourself, the PDPA will then send out for votes via the Membership.

Recent work:

PDPA EMERGENCY FUND: An Immediate Emergency Fund of up to £1,000 for any Tour Card Holder in real need of immediate financial assistance. This fund is SPECIFICALLY for Members who are currently suffering a real negative financial impact due to the Pandemic. This applied-for payment will be non-repayable.

HARDSHIP FUND: A PDPA/PDC Hardship Fund for any Tour Card Holder who requires further financial support in the months ahead in the form of an advance against future prize money. The details for this fund will be forwarded to all Tour Card Holders in due course.

PDC TOUR CARD: The Golden Ticket: Over the last 5-6 years we have with the PDC looked at the ‘PDC Tour Card’ being ‘The Golden Ticket’ in professional darts. The aim is to continually make the ‘Tour Card more lucrative and give all professional players more opportunities.

PDPA LEVY: In ‘2019’ we reduced the % levy from our members from 3% to 2% after discussions with the PDC, this is another incredible breakthrough in managing our members finances to the full benefit of our members, this is a further £135,000 going back to our membership. We work fully on the basis of a ‘Not for Profit’ organisation. With any profits going back into the game.

ENTRY FEES: These have now been abolished after fine work with the PDC for the benefit of our members, a saving of £4,000 in entry fees for each Pro-Tour player.

PLAYING EQUIPMENT: If we get any complaints about equipment used, these can generally be dealt with at source to a professional resolution. On other occasions, we may need to collate these for further discussions with the PDC and equipment providers which can take time.

HEALTH & WEALTH: Much of our most significant recent work has been around our player’s health, welfare and changes to rules and events for the players benefit as a whole. We are currently in final negotiations for PDPA Representatives all around the World in areas progressing in our sport for the benefit of players in those regions; this will commence in 2020’

Mental health is one area in which the PDPA has been instrumental for its members, with numerous current and former players praising the access to services they received through the PDPA. We are a signatory for the ‘Mental Health Charter’ a full member of the PPF and have ‘Sporting Chance’ as one of our official partners.

SEMINARS: These are done annually and are for the benefit of our players.

PDPA DARTS APP: Our new PDPA Darts APP, is a must for all members. It shows up to date news while on the go and all race tables and rankings up to date for all events, you can also get notifications for any entry deadlines, the PDC/DRA & PDPA Rules, an alert on the APP showing the very next entry deadline, PDC direct entries via sportradar. This can be downloaded from the APP Store or Google Play for Android.

DART CONNECT: This system is now the full scoring and statistical system for all Pro-Tour, Development Tour and Challenge Tour events including qualifiers. And the UK Open and Players Championship Finals. This is FREE for all PDC Tour Card Holders and a discount for all other members. CLICK HERE for further info.

RESPECT CAMPAIGN: This has been running for some time and is noted on all of our floor events stage areas which players can see. SEE BELOW

EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFIERS: We have recently had major changes on the European Tour Qualification, where now all Tour Card Holders play the night prior to a Players Championship event usually in the UK, where our TCH can also access 3 or 4 events over a weekend and play in the best professional conditions. Associate/Day Members play in Europe.

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS: We have also had changes to this event to allow a further 32 of our members to play in a major TV event and at a time at the end of the season where there are less Pro-Tour events.

What does the PDPA do?

INVESTMENT INTO THE GAME: We at the PDPA are very proud to continually invest into the process and the future of the game, at present we invest as follows:

£20,000 into the JDC (JDC World Cup, PDPA Scholarships and Development)
£20,000 into the DRA (Including Drug Testing)
£140,000 into the Players Championship events (This has been done since the PC were formed by the PDC & PDPA as a joint venture)
£20,000 into the Challenge Tour
£20,000 into the Development Tour
£20,000 into the health of our members
£10,000 into Wealth Management
£20,000 in Education and Integrity
£20,000 into the New PDPA APP
£5,000 into the PDPA Website
£2,500 into language translations

TO EVALUATE

CHANGES IN THE GAME: Its no secret that many people involved in our sport don’t fully understand the procedures and processes that have to be followed to change any rules, events, dates, venues, prize money, conditions of playing, playing equipment etc

Our role is to determine if any changes would be more proficient for the game as a whole, and not just for individuals. These can be either our own proposals, from the PDC or requests made by our members to look at a certain part of the game.

Once these are established, we would discuss these with the PDC in a multidisciplinary environment and come up with a decision which would benefit the game as a whole.

PDPA PARTNERS: We continually look at businesses, associations and sports to gain benefits for our members, or fully professional companies who can offer our members a correct and professional service.

WHY IS THE PDPA IMPORTANT? Players need to have a voice in their own sport, our role is to do this for and on behalf of all of our members. They also need to access complaints and concerns that they may have.

PDPA EVENT ATTENDANCE & REPORTS: We have a representative at every PDC event for any issues or discussions. Following every Pro-Tour, any Qualifier and DT/CT events we also provide a report to all concerned on the event.

PDC PLAYERS CONTRACT: This was a major discussion and comments/queries requirement at the end of 2018 into 2019. (Managers/Solicitors)

PDC / DRA RULES:

DRA: We have a fully co-operative and fully functioning working partnership with the DRA for the full benefit of our members. If any players receive a DRA referral, we can (And ONLY once a player has given consent either verbally, via email or the signed PDPA/DRA form agreeing to representation) as per requirement to be involved within their case from Referral > Hearing > Outcome > Appeal etc

We offer full advice of what to do, help with paperwork and deadlines, use our sports solicitor, attend hearings to represent players, attend appeals and be involved with conference calls. We also help with any players medication issues in terms of checking banned substances and TUE forms for ‘Therapeutic Use’

DRUG TESTING: These are random thought the year via UKAD

HEALTH & WELLBEING:

MHC: We are a signatory for the Mental Health Charter

BUPA Health Scan: All PDC Tour Card Holders are entitled to a FREE BUPA Health Scan CLICK HERE for the area and further information NOTE: (These are currently on hold due to Pandemic issues)

THRIVE WELLBEING APP: We have a FREE wellbeing APP for the use of all of our players to help with anxiety, stress, depression, loss of form, etc CLICK HERE for further information.

SPORTING CHANCE CLINIC: For all members FREE If you need any help SC are here to help you CLICK HERE for there specific area on the website.

PROSPERITY WEALTH: For wealth management, one of our new partners, CLICK HERE for further information.

PDPA HEALTH: Videos and information on Bereavement Coping, Stress, Depression, Official Charity, Parkinson’s UK

PDPA PARTNERS:

PPF: Professional Players Federation We have been members of the PPF for 4 years, which is an organisation set up in the UK for all sports association to network within other sports CLICK HERE for the area on our website dedicated to the PPF

LAPS: Life After Professional Sport We have recently joined forces with LAPS to help with the transition when players stop their sport and what to do next, in terms of support systems and opportunities. CLICK HERE for the LAPS area on our website

SPORTS SOLICITOR: Mr Gareth Williams at GHW Solicitors is our official PDPA Solicitor for any issues including contractual problems, etc

ACCOUNTANCY: Adrian Grainger at ‘Griffiths & Pegg’ are our official accountant for our members, he has saved our members over a quarter of a million pounds since he has been with us.

TRAVEL COUNSELLORS: Official Travel Partner

CERTIS BESPOKE SPORTS INSURANCE: CLICK HERE for official Insurance Partner area on the website.

TRAVEL INSURANCE: CLICK HERE for the PDPA Travel Insurance provided by Certis and underwritten by Lloyds

VISAS & BREXIT: CLICK HERE for this area

The PDPA PROVIDE:

A fully functioning website which is both mobile & tablet compatible.
A fully functioning PDPA Darts APP to help with entry deadlines via notifications, entries and up to date news, race tables and rankings.
Markers Shirts for all PDC Events.
Regular email information on upcoming issues, events and related darts issues
Text service to Tour Card Holders for deadlines and news
A PDPA representative at every PDC floor event, and TV events where applicable.
Information notices at all PDC Pro-Tour events.
DRA Advice & Representation ‘This still needs the players consent to the DRA’
FREE BUPA Health scan to all Tour Card Holders.
FREE Sporting Chance availability for any member
FREE Sports Wellbeing THRIVE APP.
LAPS ‘Life After Professional Sport’
PDPA Official Accountant ‘Griffiths & Pegg’
PDPA Official Solicitor ‘GHW Solicitors’
PDPA Official Travel Partner ‘Travel Counsellors’
PDPA Car/Home Insurance ‘Certis Insurance’
PDPA Hotel Corporate Rates, for the UK.
PDPA Shuttle Bus to/from events to/from Airports and Hotels in UK
FREE Contract advice.
FREE Professional Markers at Pro-Tour events via the Markers Scheme.
An event review after every PDC event circulated.
24/7 Contacts
Regular PDPA Board Meetings ‘Quarterly’
PDPA Social Media ‘Twitter & FB’
Wellbeing Leaflet.
PDPA Benevolent Fund.
Signatory for the Mental Health Charter ‘Inc. Action Plan’
Invest £200,000 back into event prize money.
Sports Integrity E-Learning Module
Darts Statistics.
FREE Dart Connect for Tour Card Holders
Race Tables for all events.
Check your medications online.
Player Education.
Representation at the PPF ‘Professional Players Federation’
Along with these benefits, we meet on a regular basis and communicate daily with the PDC to plan events, go through all the rules and regulations, players contracts, issues, scenarios, proposals, reviews and everything darts related.