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Links:

OFFICIAL  WEBSITE

EDSA Officers Group Photo

Standing:  Rudy Metrillo, Sergs Alibangbang, Lino Leonardo, Alex Songcuya, Connie Sison (Muse), Romy Galvez, Resty Dela Peña, Jun Andres, Cenon Daquiz

Kneeling:  Fred Borja, Dado Corpuz, Peter Lachica, Peter Maranan

Our Mission

To serve as the unifying organization for all darters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Profile

The Expat Darters of Saudi Arabia (EDSA) was formed in 1989 by a group of Filipino dart enthusiasts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the purpose of organizing dart competitions with the aim of providing a past time during weekends, promoting sports development and foster camaraderie.

In late 2003, a new set of officers were elected under the leadership of Mr. Romy Galvez, a non-darter who is known for his leadership, motivation and marketing ability, strong personality, discipline, enthusiasm and positive outlook in order to lead the organization into achieving new heights.

The organization moved to a new venue - Manila Plaza, which is located in the middle of Batha, the place where almost all Filipinos in the Central Region gather together especially during weekends.  Their group, together with their spectators formed the biggest gathering of Filipinos on weekends.  The league became professional, with more emphasis on discipline.  Extensive media coverage, both in TV and print, has been achieved.

Membership has considerably grown from 72 to almost 300 members at the moment, making it one of the biggest, if not the biggest Filipino sports organization in the Kingdom.  Sponsors became interested with the league, with all teams in their inter-commercial league fully sponsored by companies.  EDSA was able to organize two to three competitions at the same time, with an avalanche of prizes, both in cash and in kind, being awarded to participants.  The organization was even able to host the first ever inter-regional battle of the best dart tournament featuring the best darters of the Central, Eastern and Western regions of Saudi Arabia.

The organization was able to effectively promote the sport and the league by organizing dart clinics and parlor game-type contests like "Isang Bullseye - Isant T-shirt" competitions.  It is worthwhile to note that marketing the sport (which is not even considered as a sport) and the league is indeed a Herculean task.  Darts is classified under "Games & Recreations" together with Billiards and Bowling.  Unfortunately, unlike the latter, it is not so popular among Filipinos because it does not have popular icons like Efren "Bata" Reyes and Paeng Nepomuceno.  The cultural environment in Saudi Arabia also strictly prohibits women from joining the league and players drinking alcoholic beverage during games, which is being practiced all over the world.  Amazingly, a team composed of elementary students from a local school was able to join their team competition.

EDSA was also transformed into a respected Filipino community organization and became a partner of the Philippine Embassy, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and other non-government organizations in providing assistance and extending donations to distressed OFWs, charitable institutions in Saudi Arabia and in the Philippines, and to victims of calamities in the Philippines.  For this reason, an award has been given by the Philippine Embassy to EDSA, which is considered as their Accredited Community Partner.

Contact Information

Basement Level, Manila Plaza Commercial Center, Batha, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Mail to: edsa_darters@hotmail.com

Affiliates: [Darts Council of the Philippines] [National Darts Federation Philippines]

Links: [CoolClips.com]

Send mail to edsa_darters@hotmail.com with questions or comments about this web site.