"I felt there was no chance for women" - Gemma Hayter quit darts before making comeback thanks to Luke Humphries

After an eight-year absence, Gemma Hayter is returning to the highest stage. The 31-year-old English darter will make her debut at the Women's World Matchplay at the iconic Winter Gardens on Sunday, barely a year and a half after she finally decided to pick up her arrows again. The spark came thanks to a spur from world number one men's player Luke Humphries.

Hayter was once considered one of the greatest talents of her generation. As a teenager, she went through the youth program at Hampshire and played with Humphries on the youth squad. At 14, she was selected for the senior team, and in 2016 she received the ultimate honor of representing her country. But ironically, it was that same year that she decided to quit.

"In 2016, I qualified to play for England. But that was the year I gave up for eight years. I just felt there was no opportunity for the women back then. I didn’t do the BDO tour, as it was back then, so the highest I could go was to play for England," Hayter candidly tells to The Mirror. "I felt there was no chance for women at that time. I wasn't playing the BDO tour, so the highest I could reach was England. And even that didn't feel like enough."

The reality of women's darts at the time fell hard on her. The financial burden, the few tournaments and the lack of visibility made her decide to focus on other priorities. “I also met my partner and we got quite serious. We wanted to buy a house and I was spending £200 a weekend to play one game for Hampshire. I felt there should have been more competitions for the ladies.”

Although she still occasionally threw some arrows during her break, the real motivation to return came during the 2023/24 World Championships. There she watched Luke Littler conquer the world as well as her childhood friend Humphries finally become world champion.

“It was a bit of Luke Littler fever when he played his first Worlds. And I played youth darts with Luke Humphries and that was the year he won it. It was someone I’d known since I was 16. If that doesn’t inspire you, nothing will. Darts was everywhere and I still had a board at home. I was throwing and said to my other half, ‘These are going really well.’ She said, ‘If you want to get back into it…’ I looked at when the Women’s Series started and she said, ‘Right, I’ll book the weekend off and will drive you.’”

Her return to the Women's Series in 2024 was nothing short of spectacular. In her second tournament, she defeated Fallon Sherrock 5-1, including a 97 average. That result immediately caught the attention of managers, upon which she instinctively contacted Humphries for advice. “I then had a few contract offers from managers, so I messaged Luke. I said, ‘I know you’re really, really busy, but you know about this stuff more than me,’ and he navigated it with me.”

Eventually, Hayter signed with MODUS and Red Dragon, the same parties that also support Humphries. “He’s a really nice, genuine and laid-back guy," Hayter says. "I never thought he’d be doing what he’s doing now. He was always a decent player but he didn’t play any senior darts at that point [when we played together]. His rise has been brilliant to watch.”

The growth of women's darts, including the Women's Series and the Women's World Matchplay, gave Hayter a concrete goal to return for. Still, she is critical of the way the women's section in darts is treated by the PDC and sponsors. “A lot of the manufacturers and people who sponsor darts players, they’re not really backing the women,” she said. “And I’ve been quite critical of the PDC. I don’t feel like they push the women enough."

She herself recently took the lead by expressing her dissatisfaction online. The PDC initially posted only a few legs of the finals on social media, which sparked her frustration. “They didn’t put any of the Women’s Series finals on YouTube until I kicked up a bit of stink about it online. I put up a post on Twitter [saying], ‘Why are we not getting seen?’ All they were posting was the last six darts of a final.”

As far as Hayter is concerned, it is high time for more attention, more tournaments and a Women's World Championship of their own within the PDC structure. “I think now is the time,. The trouble is, the PDC are only interested in when the women are beating the blokes, that’s the only time you see them get pushed, which is a shame. Everyone knows Beau, Fallon and Lisa Ashton are great players. They’re producing big averages against each other but no one is seeing it. They need to get people interested in the women's players more.”