Winstanley guiding future stars whilst still competing herself: “My ultimate goal has always been to be world champion"

Lorraine Winstanley certainly does not plan to hang up her darts just yet, but the former Lakeside finalist wants to focus more on mentoring young talents.

Winstanley has enjoyed a successful career in women's darts and remains among the world's top women's players. The 47-year-old also spends much of her time helping the next generation of darters as part of her role as head of youth development for darts manufacturer Target Darts.

She took over this role in 2021 from darts legend Darryl Fitton. Winstanley thoroughly enjoys helping the newest generation of talented younger players achieve their dream of becoming darts professionals.

“There are so many things that we look at,” Winstanley told Fen Regis Trophies. “Having natural talent helps. We look at how much people are playing and what they are playing in, and obviously results."

“There are so many things, like their attitude on and off the oche – that comes into play. Very young players up to the point they are able to play on the development tour fall under my remit, so it’s quite a big age range.”

Winstanley herself hopes to add a few more trophies to her own trophy cabinet. The England national darts team player still has her sights set on winning a world title before she is done.

''My ultimate goal has always been to become world champion,'' said Winstanley, who, however, is unsure if she will qualify for the next women's world championship at Lakeside.

“Life gets in the way and things change. That will always be in the back of my mind and when I qualify, I give it my best shot, but because there is so much travelling, and of course because I have this role, I’m not doing as many WDF tournaments. Therefore, there is no guarantee that I am going to qualify [for the World Championship].”

However, Winstanley hopes Lakeside is not her only opportunity to realize her dream. The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has introduced a number of tournaments for women in recent years, and although the PDC Women's World Championship has yet to be resurrected, Winstanley is anxious to see what the future holds.

“The PDC have taken women’s darts by storm by introducing the women’s series. They have already moved forward by doing the Women’s Matchplay, so it will be interesting to see what else comes off the back of that and see if they could throw in a Women’s UK Open or Grand Prix. I really think that is the future for women’s darts.”