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Now that the dust has settled a little on yesterday's incident with Cam Menzies following his defeat at Ally Pally to Charlie Manby, I just wanted to give you a little update.
Last year, when Damon Heta very kindly agreed to wear the Andy’s Man Club logo at the Worlds, I set myself a target of having five players wear one at this year’s Championships. Darts, being a predominantly male sport, is a perfect fit to help promote Andy’s Man Club.
Damon agreed again, so I needed four more players. I set about messaging lots of top UK players on Instagram, Facebook and X, as well as sending emails. I also contacted some of the biggest darts management teams in the business.
Now, I appreciate that many players already have all sponsor patches taken. I appreciate there’s no monetary gain for them. And I appreciate that darts management companies are busy and receive a lot of requests. But not even a “Sorry, we can’t help on this occasion” or “Great cause, but there’s no space on the shirt”? The silence was deafening.
In total, I received just two replies: Scott Williams and @CameronMenzies
Cam very kindly agreed to help and wear the logo on his shirt, promoting a men’s mental health charity on the biggest stage in world darts — completely free of charge. (Unfortunately, the logo patches were delayed in the post and didn’t reach him before he travelled down to London on Sunday.)
He could have ignored me like many others did. But he didn’t. He wanted to help.
Some of the things I’ve seen written about him in the past 24 hours have been shocking. I fully understand that what he did was wrong — everyone, including Cam, will admit that. But the abuse on social media is ridiculous. In a time when people talk about #BeKind, there really is no need for it.
He lost a darts match. He punched a table. That’s it. He made a mistake. This was frustration directed at himself.
People are quick to judge without knowing what someone else may be dealing with away from the oche. A little understanding would go a long way.
English
