Freetime: Kristi Boehm, Maintenance Mart Janitor Supply

Kristi Boehm (in the middle of the front row) at the 2010 world championships in Las Vegas, with team Arizona in black and team Germany in red. Unfortunately, Germany won first place in the ladies’ masters competition.

A “chucker” is someone who throws darts at the board without aim. This does not apply to Kristi Boehm. Kristi, account executive with Phoenix-based distributor Maintenance Mart Janitor Supply, is an international dart tournament competitor — and champion. She has competed in almost 15 world championships.

In the 1980s, when she was old enough to go to bars, Kristi started playing darts for fun.

“When I moved to Phoenix from Illinois in 1986, I found that Phoenix is a real hotbed for darts. Eventually, I started entering tournaments,” says Kristi.

Kristi usually plays electronic darts, also known as soft tip darts. She plays a few nights each week on a ladies’ darts league, and competes in about two tournaments a month. Though Kristi’s statistics are good enough to gain entry into a Phoenix area men’s masters level competitive league, Kristi plays more for fun than for “the competitive aspect of the game.” That said, she travels to Las Vegas annually to compete in an international championship, and also plays in a national tournament in Chicago every year. She also competes all over the United States and in Europe.

In 1995, her four-person team won the world championship darts tournament in Las Vegas. Since then, she has either placed second, third or fourth every year in the world championships. Because of her high-scoring history, Kristi is required to enter tournaments at the ladies’ masters level, which is a professional level in the sport. Both the Las Vegas and the Chicago tournaments feature cash prizes, though Kristi says the Vegas tournament is more about prestige than money.

“Generally, I play better in big tournaments,” says Kristi.

That’s not the case for everybody, however. According to Kristi, there is an unusual syndrome that affects hundreds of darts competitors.

“Some people get to the line and just can’t throw,” she says. “They have a dart in their hand, but can’t let go of it. One friend had this problem for a few months; another had the same problem for two years. It’s a psychological thing.”

According to Kristi, playing darts doesn’t take strength or even good vision (Kristi says she can hit bullseyes with her eyes closed). Rather, it’s all about getting your arm in a rhythm and throwing.

At this year’s championship tournament in Las Vegas, Kristi played darts for a week. She played in two ladies’ doubles events, two ladies’ singles events, two team events and one mixed doubles event.

But to Kristi, winning is secondary compared to meeting people and making new friends.

“Some of my best friends are people I’ve met in darts tournaments, and they live in Wisconsin, Florida, Germany and Spain,” says Kristi. “One minute you’re playing darts with complete strangers, and the next thing you know, it’s 20 years later and you’re still really good friends.”

Gretchen Roufs, an 18-year janitorial supply industry veteran, owns a marketing and public relations company in San Antonio. To suggest someone you think should be featured in “Freetime,” contact her at Gretchen@GretchenRoufs.com