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On June 16th, 2017, Godfather's Pizza in Plattsmouth, Nebraska will host it's first dart tournament. However, it will not be a tournament like others in the area. This will be a Youth-only (18 & under) tournament...it will be the first tournament of a weekly series lasting 12 weeks throughout the Summer months. Godfather's Pizza, partnering with the Wolfpack Junior National dart team and the Greater Omaha Leagues' Junior dart program will offer a family-friendly environment for youth dart players from all over the area to gather, socialize and enjoy the game of darts in a tournament setting. The tournaments will be held upstairs at Godfather's in the area now known as "The Wolves' Den", the 2018 home of the Wolfpack Junior National team. Each week from 5pm to 6pm, the youth players can sign up for the tournament for $5.00 (plus quarters for their games), which also includes pizza for them. Bottled water, soda & other snacks will also be available for purchase during the tournaments. Parents can choose to stay throughout the evening or simply check-in with the program director, Matt Winters and return later to pick their youth player up. Each week the Junior tournament, referred to as "Godfather's Goodfellas", will have a different sponsor...generally a local business who provides gift cards or prizes for the evening's tournament winner. In addition, the winners each week will get their names put on the Champions' plaque that will be displayed for everyone to see. These tournaments will be a mixture of cricket & 501 and be equalized based upon player skill level. Much like Greater Omaha's Ultimate Qualifier Series, the youth players will earn points each week and at the end of the 12 week series, the player with the most points accrued will win a trophy & a $250 Visa Gift Card! The 2nd highest point earner will win a medal & a $50 Gift Certificate to Alkar Billiards! There may be other random prize drawings throughout the series as well, but the only way to know and have a chance to win is to participate. Any youth players participating in at least 8 of the 12 weeks of the series will be awarded a Godfather's Goodfellas T-shirt. Anyone else who wants a T-shirt, including parents, they will be available to order for $10 ($12 for 2x - 5x) When asked about the development of this partnership, Junior Program Director Matt Winters said "It was an obvious choice for us when we were approached about it. Since the inception of the Junior program, we've always wanted a kid-friendly location to grow with the community. Godfather's Pizza offers the perfect atmosphere for kids to enjoy themselves and for parents to feel comfortable enough to allow their children to get to know each other and to learn the game that we all love so much." Winters and Greater Omaha Leagues are excited about the potential to continue the growth of the Junior dart program and believe that the future of darts continues to shine bright through this partnership. Winters also said that they have ideas for other fun activities as well and hope to expand upon just the tournaments as time passes. He believes that there is a great need for youth activities and healthy opportunities to socialize for the Plattsmouth community and believes that this may be just the beginning. 
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In just under a month, nearly three dozen local players will compete against other youth players from around the Country to crown 2017's Junior National Champions in soft tip darts. These Junior players had a calendar year to meet the minimum league game requirements with their local operator and hone their skills in an attempt to compete and hopefully become recognized as the best in their division. The National Dart Association (NDA) hosts five different events; each of which is broken down into divisions based upon player's skill level. Among those Juniors competing will be Greater Omaha's own "Wolfpack" Junior National team, a year-round competition team that is made up of Junior players that practice and compete in leagues & tournaments the entire year in preparation for the NDA Junior Nationals. Members of the Wolfpack have won 10 Junior National Championships to date and have the added pressure of not only defending many of those titles, but doing so in their hometown. An exciting twist being thrown in this year with Omaha hosting the National event is that for the first time, non-Wolfpack local Juniors will also be competing in the events. Will these youth players from Greater Omaha's Junior program defeat a Wolfpack member? Will one of them be the ones walking away with a National Championship, while a Wolfpack member walks away empty handed? These are certainly situations that make this year's event that much more exciting for the local players. When asked about the competition between youth players, Wolfpack Coach Steve Garrean Jr. said "Honestly we are all excited to host the 2017 Junior Nationals and all of the kids are really supportive of each other." Garrean went on to add "There is certainly a healthy competition between players, but at the end of the day, all of these kids are friends and are genuinely happy seeing each other succeed." It was also mentioned that many of the Junior players have stayed in touch through social media over the last couple National events. "We're not only building the future of the sport, but building lifelong friendships and relationships...it's so much more than just darts for many of these kids." added Assistant Coach Matt Winters. Greater Omaha Leagues has really supported the Junior movement since Garrean & Winters began the program in 2014 with just 8 youth players. Now, just three years later, the league sanctioned around 60 Junior players with the NDA in 2016. Garrean is hoping that is just the beginning, stating "We really want to continue reaching out to our surrounding communities to help push forward and continue building upon our Junior program. Seeing the growth of the Junior players over the last few years has been nothing short of amazing...and I'm not referring to just their ability on the dartboard. We mentor them in any way we can and build a family bond in hopes of giving each and every one of them a solid support system, because life can get difficult during adolescence and everyone needs an ear to listen, a guiding word or just a shoulder to cry on from time to time." He concluded with giving a shout out to everyone who has helped with building and growing the Junior program, whether they be parents, Assistant Coaches with the Wolfpack (current: Gabe Ahlers, Jeff Martens, Julie Garrean, Jessica Jordan & former: Wes Babcock), sponsors or those within the community who have shown tremendous support for everything the Junior program has done. The following local players are competing for National Championships in various events:
The National Dart Association & Greater Omaha Leagues encourages parents, aunts & uncles, grandparents, etc. to come out and support their Junior player as they compete for a 2017 Junior National Championship, but please remember that this is a youth event, so refrain from inappropriate language and practice good sportsmanship for all of the Junior competitors. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who has continued to support the Junior program...we can't wait to see where it goes from here.
Do you have a child that gained eligibility for the 2017 NDA Junior National Championships in Omaha, Nebraska on June 9-11th, 2017? If so, the deadline for registration is fast approaching. Friday May 5th marks the deadline to register your Junior player for this year's tournament. Late entries will be allowed between May 6 - 11th, but will come with a $10/entry late penalty. Junior players must be 20 or under and be a sanctioned member of the National Dart Association.
Greater Omaha Leagues is proud to have one of the premier Junior dart programs in the State of Nebraska and helping to bring the next generation of darters into the sport. We are also extremely proud to have our own Omaha, Nebraska hosting this year's NDA Junior National tournaments. Please help us fill all of the brackets by getting your Junior players registered to participate in as many events as possible. Anyone needing help finding a doubles partner for their child, please don't hesitate to ask Steve Garrean Jr. or Matt Winters, Greater Omaha Leagues Junior Program Assistant Director, and they will gladly help locate a teammate. Contact steve@gamesales.com for more information. You can print out these forms, fill them out and return them with payment to Steve Garrean Jr with Greater Omaha Leagues or deliver them to Central Distributing Co located at 609 N. 108th Cir, Omaha, NE 68154.
Greater Omaha Leagues is extremely proud to be laying down a challenge to it's top male, female and Junior players with a "Winner Take All" tournament weekend in June 2017. The tournament will be by invite only and players must be one of the top players in the league system (based upon SSPRE & Minimum 200 league games, 75 league games for Juniors) from April 1, 2016 - April 1, 2017 to be eligible. This is something unlike anything Greater Omaha has attempted before and it is mostly to challenge the top players in their league system, while offering yet another reward to their players for their support. Partnering with Fraternity of Eagles #365 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska; whom is co-sponsoring and hosting the event, Greater Omaha is in hopes that this will be a fun and challenging weekend. While the Male & Female events will pay out a cash prize, each of the Junior events will pay out the first ever Greater Omaha Leagues' college scholarship. The winning Junior from each event will have their prize money set aside for them and upon being accepted into a college, trade school or other higher education, will receive that money at that time. With the continual growth of Greater Omaha's Junior Dart Program, they are hoping that this can be an annual event in which players can continue to win scholarships to help with the cost of their higher education. Events for the Male & Female divisions will be played on Saturday June 17th and begin at 11am & 1pm respectively, while the Junior events will both be held on Sunday June 18th. The Male event will require a $25 registration fee and be a race to 4 format (701, CR, 701, CR, 701, CR, 701), heads up with no equalizer in play. The Female & Junior event will also require a $25 registration fee and it will be a race to 3 format (701, CR, 701, CR, 701). In these events, the cricket games will be equalized and the 01 games will be reverse handicapped to insure competitive matches, regardless of the wide spread of averages in each event. The Junior 12 & under event will require a $10 registration fee and be a race to 2 format (501, CR, 501). The 12 & under event will also feature equalized cricket & reverse handicapped 01 games. Estimated payouts based upon full field: Male - (24 players) = $1,200.00 Winner Take All *$600.00 entries + $500.00 Added by Greater Omaha + $100.00 Added by FOE #365 Female - (16 players) = $1,000.00 Winner Take All *$400.00 entries + $500.00 Added by Greater Omaha + $100.00 Added by FOE #365 Juniors - (16 players) = $1,000.00 Scholarship Winner Take All *$400.00 entries + $500.00 Added by Greater Omaha + $100.00 Added by FOE #365 Junior 12 & Under (15 players) = $250.00 Scholarship Winner Take All *150.00 entries + $100.00 Added by Greater Omaha Also as part of the Greater Omaha Leagues & FOE #365 co-sponsorship, all boards will be on free play during this competition so all players may warm up and compete for no additional cost. Eligible players will be notified by invitation and if the challenge is accepted, will be required to pay their registration fee prior to May 14th. If any player turns down the opportunity or fails to pay the registration prior to the deadline, their spot will be offered to the next eligible player in an attempt to fill the field. If less than 18 (male), 10 (female/Junior) have registered & paid by May 14th, the event will be cancelled. All Junior players will have to have their parents consent to participate. Any player who qualifies to play in multiple tournaments will be required to choose which one they will compete in. Results of each of the tournaments will be published in Bullshooter Magazine for everyone to see. If you have any questions email steve@gamesales.com  **Above rosters are subject to change (dependent upon acceptance of invite)
 Greater Omaha Leagues' Junior National Team, The Wolfpack, has been holding weekly practice sessions at their "home" location, Eagles FOE #365 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Each week, on Sunday evening, the team gets together to practice darts and socialize with each other to build the team bond. At these practice sessions, the coaches have been taking turns providing pizza and raffle prizes for those players who participate in the events.
As part of these practice sessions, Coach Steve Garrean Jr thought it would be a great opportunity to solicit the help of local professional dart players to share some of their knowledge and experience, by requesting them to host some clinics for the group of Junior players. The first of these clinics will take place on Sunday April 2nd, 2017 when professionals Anthony Croker and Brandon Neal lead an educational clinic that may touch on numerous topics, such as professionalism, situational strategy, technique, mental focus and a multitude of others. The next stop of competition for the Wolfpack team is in just a couple short weeks when they travel to compete in several events at the 2017 Heartland Dart Championships in Grand Island, Nebraska on April 14-16th. Some of the events they will be competing in are Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles & Mixed Trips. Wolfpack members Chance Taylor & Dallas Winters are reigning Heartland Dart Champions in the Mixed Trips Level 2 event, along with Coach Julie Garrean. The team is excited to for the competition and chance to get the valuable experience leading up to the National Championships. The Wolfpack Junior National team is in the home stretch of it's 2017 campaign, which will culminate in the 2017 NDA Junior National Championships...which this year is being held right here in Omaha, Nebraska. The members of the Wolfpack, many of whom are former & current Junior National Champions with the NDA are excited to represent their state and "Defend the Den" as they have coined as their slogan this year. If you would like to follow the team on their journey, you can do so at the Facebook page by clicking this LINK.  Greater Omaha Leagues hosted a singles tournament on Saturday March 18th, as part of its series of remote tournament offerings. Overall, 51 players, from 15 different Greater Omaha locations, competed in four different divisions based upon skill level. The tournaments proved to be very competitive and left many players asking for remote tournaments to be held more frequently. Currently Greater Omaha hosts a remote tournament once every 4-6 weeks.
Results: A Division: 1st Place - Brad Drews (Dugout in Fremont, Nebraska) 2nd Place - Mark Robinson (Tin Lizzy's in Fremont, Nebraska) 3rd Place - Steve Garrean Jr (Eagles #365 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska) B Division: 1st Place - Cody Lasovich (Phoenix in Omaha, Nebraska) 2nd Place - Jesse Bachmann (Corner Bar in Fremont, Nebraska) 3rd Place - Aaron Halagarda (Eagles #365 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska) C Division: 1st Place - Aayla Woerth (Big Al's in Council Bluffs, Iowa) 2nd Place - Kael Nauslar (Rick's Drift Inn in Omaha, Nebraska) 3rd Place - Dave Baker (NC Eagles in Nebraska City, Nebraska) D Division: 1st Place - Alec Engelsman (Phoenix in Omaha, Nebraska) 2nd Place - Kelsey Dietl (VFW 2543 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 3rd Place - Tim Calabro (Big Al's in Council Bluffs, Iowa) The next Greater Omaha Leagues remote tournament offering is scheduled for Saturday April 29th, 2017 and is slated to be a Mixed Doubles event in remembrance of former league player and ambassador, Kim Burgess. Registration and payment for that event is due by April 23rd. Each year, Arachnid, makers of the Galaxy 3 dartboards, hosts a series of Regional Dart Championships in numerous States around the US and other countries, to give players the chance to compete against a higher level of opponent. Each of these "Bullshooter" Regional Championships has a guaranteed payout of $10,000.00 and the top 4 finishers in each event earn a qualifying card for them to compete in the Bullshooter World Finals in Rosemont, Illinois each year on Memorial Day weekend...the final two earning a professional status with Arachnid. The finals has a payout of $140,000.00 and is the scene for the best of the best in the United States and beyond to compete for the Bullshooter World Championship. With Nebraska's Bullshooter Regional tournament being one of the last of the series, it's no wonder that the attendance is among the largest year in and year out. Players flock to the Nebraska Bullshooter Regional from states all over the Midwest and even Texas, California, etc. for the final chance to earn their qualifying card or professional status with Arachnid. Each year, Greater Omaha Leagues has had more players participate in the Regional events and this year was no different. There were several of our league players that had good showings in the events, with a few that really shined. Among those that placed high were Ken Quade and Steve Garrean Jr; who took home a runner-up in the Open Doubles 501 event, earning both of them qualifying cards and professional status. This year's Bullshooter also saw a pair of Greater Omaha's Junior players from their Junior National competition team, "The Wolfpack", earn qualifying cards for the World Finale. Dallas Winters (sponsored by Ultimate Team Gear and M&R Darts) finished 4th place in Open Doubles 01 with Coach Gabe Ahlers and Cameran Runge finished 4th place in the Women's Singles tournament. Gabe Ahlers & Dallas Winters also placed 5th in the Open Doubles Cricket event and Winters added a 5th place finish in the Mixed Doubles event with partner Cheryl Brodersen. Greater Omaha Leagues are proud of each and every one of their players who came out to compete in the tournament and represent our leagues. The next stop for many of our players is the Heartland Dart Championships in Grand Island, Nebraska on April 14-16th. 
Greater Omaha Leagues' Junior National Team, The Wolfpack is getting ready to start their apparel fundraiser to help raise money to pay for Junior Nationals this year. They have partnered with All Star Shirts & More of Bellevue, Nebraska to offer high quality "Wolfpack" apparel so players, families and friends can show their support for the team, while helping them meet their fundraising goal. The Junior dart team needs to raise money to help cover the expenses of competing in the 2017 NDA Junior National Championships in June. Some of those expenses are event entries, team shirts, meals and hotel stay throughout the weekend. This year's Junior National tournament is being held in Omaha, Nebraska...meaning the Wolfpack has the added pressure of duplicating their success from previous years in their own hometown. To help support the Wolfpack players, you can order a variety of apparel directly from one of the players, coaches or parents. You can print a copy of the order form or simply contact one of the aforementioned people to place your order. Some of the clothing options are T-shirts (both short & long sleeve), moisture wicking poly T-shirts (both short & long sleeve), polo shirts, hoodies, beanies & baseball caps. All checks should be made to All Star Shirts & More. All orders and money must be turned in on April 9th during the team's practice session and apparel should be delivered 2-4 weeks following. The Wolfpack Junior National team would like to sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts. As always, we coaches like to add a little spin on things...the player/coach who sells the most items will win a $50.00 gift certificate to our team's sponsor Alkar Billiards in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as a gift basket of other prizes. Wolfpack: She-Wolves: Coaches: Captain - Kade Hansen Captain: Cameran Runge Steve Garrean Jr. Dallas Winters Kathleen Villarreal Matt Winters Chance Taylor Madison Andera Gabe Ahlers Kole Gray Kilee Jean Molczyk Jeff Martens Trenton Marasco Tiffanie Dietl Jessica Jordan Dylan Dietl Michaela Brodersen Julie Garrean Tabor Ahlers Kiairra Markham Hunter Smith Ayden Hansen   On Saturday February 18th, 2017 Stoli's Lounge in Omaha, Nebraska will host a memorial luck of the draw dart tournament to benefit the family and celebrate the life of Jim Dahlke, who passed away at the age of 32 on February 4th, 2017. Dahlke moved to town from Wisconsin and immediately began playing in leagues & tournaments with Greater Omaha Leagues. His usual sponsoring home location was Phoenix Food & Spirits in Omaha; where he would often meet up with partners and friends for some drinks and darts.
On Saturday February 4th, we lost one of our own with the untimely death of Jimi Dahlke. His girlfriend and family are left with his final expenses and have asked his dart family to help them during this devastating time. Please make every effort to come out to Stoli's Lounge on Saturday February 18th and participate in this tournament to honor one of our dart family. Saturday February 18th, 2017: Memorial Fundraiser Luck of the Draw Doubles for Jim Dahlke @ Stoli's Lounge in Omaha, Nebraska. Signup 12:30pm, Shoot 1pm. $10/player ($5 to pot/$5 to family). Obituary: Dahlke, James Robert Sep 5, 1984 - Feb 4, 2017 Age 32, of Omaha, NE, formerly of Ripon, passed away peacefully in his sleep. James served in the United States Air Force for 6 years, in the 440th Airlift Wing out of Milwaukee, WI. He loved his Dallas Cowboys football team, playing darts, fishing and other hobbies. James worked for the 3E Company in Omaha as a lead person. Survivors include his mother, Evonne (David C.) Shurpit of Princeton; son, Tanner James Dahlke; his Special Love, Jill Luschen; Very special friends, Haley Schakrow who was always there for him; special friend, Paul Arnold and Nick Hoak; his two dogs, Rourke and Boghardt. A MEMORIAL SERVICE will be held in his home town of Ripon and one was held in Omaha, NE, for his friends and family. James will truly be missed. We all love you dearly. |
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