Some of the very best young darts players in the country head to Hangar 61 in Bristol on Saturday for the 2026 JDC VOLTS National Finals.
Throughout the year, youngsters have been competing in JDC VOLTS events around the country. Now that pathway reaches its national conclusion, with a sold-out field of 48 players and considerably more than just the title at stake.
The format should make for a fascinating day. The players are split into eight groups of six, playing best-of-five-leg round robins. The top three from each group progress, but winning the group carries a significant advantage: the eight group winners advance directly to the Last 16, while second and third place must survive an additional play-off.
From there, the knockout matches are best of seven – but there is a major twist at the end.
The final will not be played at Hangar 61.
Instead, the two remaining players will earn the opportunity to contest the best-of-nine-leg final on stage at the PDC World Grand Prix in October. The eventual National Finals champion will also secure a place in the 2027 JPL.
For players at this stage of their development, that makes Saturday a potentially significant day.
A field with plenty of quality
My Q4QS data has matches for 38 of the entrants, with 35 of those already linked to player profiles.
And one player stands out immediately at the top of those rankings.
Jack Johnson comes into the tournament as Q4QS No.197 with an 83.02 Q4QS Average – but even those figures don't quite tell the story of his latest form.
Johnson recently reached a Vault 19 final at Tonbridge with an 88.71 tournament average, before following it with a semi-final at Rusthall where he averaged 89.97. His recent individual performances include 93.94, 90.18 and 91.09 averages.
Those are serious numbers in any company.
But Johnson is certainly not alone.
Logan Symons Jr has been extraordinarily consistent in recent local competition. His latest five recorded tournaments contain two finals and three semi-finals, including a Vault 19 final at Indian Queens where he averaged 85.96. He's 8–2 across his latest ten matches.
Then there is Finlay Cleave, who arrives as one of the hottest players in the field.
Cleave won a Vault 19 event at Paignton with an 82.18 tournament average, including a 91.57 in one victory, and has won nine of his latest ten recorded matches. He also has another recent tournament victory in the database.
JDC experience could matter
There are plenty in this field already accustomed to playing within the JDC structure.
Dylan Cowley has an 8–2 recent record and has already won on the JDC England North Foundation Tour, going 7–0 with an 80.15 tournament average. He has also reached another Foundation Tour final and has a Vault victory averaging 82.04 on his recent record.
Ben Lundstrom is another North Foundation Tour winner. His recent title came via a perfect 7–0 run with a 75.66 average, while an 80.92 and 86.63 feature among his notable match performances.
Alfie O'Flynn-Rogers and Alfie O'Brien have both been competing on the JDC Advanced Tour. O'Flynn-Rogers has produced an 82.14 match average, while O'Brien has an 81.38 on his record and reached the Last 32 of Advanced Tour Event 16.
That experience of playing against strong youth fields could become particularly valuable once Saturday reaches the knockout stages.
Winners arriving from around the country
One of the things I like most about this field is that it genuinely brings together players who have been producing results in different parts of the country.
Jack Powell arrives having won the JDC VOLTS Wales Series 7 Regional Finals, going unbeaten at 5–0 with a 72.15 tournament average. He is also 9–1 across his latest ten matches.
There's a more local interest in Joseph Lauridsen, who won the JDC VOLTS Southwest Series 7 Regional Finals. Lauridsen went 5–0 in that tournament with a 67.17 average and has now won nine of his latest ten recorded matches.
Harvey-Lee Nelson-Harris won the West Midlands Regional Finals, while Remy Stapleton arrives after winning the East Midlands Regional Finals 5–0.
And Charlie Mossman has already enjoyed success in the VOLTS series at The Banckers Draught in Minehead, winning one event 9–0 with a 73.65 average.
So while the Q4QS rankings give us a useful guide, this is exactly the sort of tournament where simply working down a ranking list could be misleading.
Players arriving in form
There are several more who deserve attention.
Addison Hefferon is 8–2 and recently reached a final at the Welsh Open, Masters & Classic, averaging 77.17, before making another semi-final at a Vault 19 event in Bletchley.
Oscar Rumsey comes to Bristol immediately after an unbeaten 8–0 Vault 19 victory, averaging 76.83 for the event. He's 9–1 across his latest ten.
Sam Jones is also 9–1 and won the SDO Academy Development Series 3.4 last time out, while Logun Godbeer has been repeatedly reaching finals in the South West and is 8–2 across his latest ten.
That's before we get to players for whom my database has much less information. Ten entrants are currently unranked in this particular Q4QS export, so there is every chance that some of Saturday's biggest threats are not obvious from the numbers alone.
Six to Follow
Picking six from a 48-player national youth final is inevitably difficult, but these are the six I'll be particularly interested in following.
Jack Johnson – The standout Q4QS numbers in the field, and recent tournament averages of 88.71 and 89.97 suggest a player arriving in outstanding scoring form.
Finlay Cleave – 9–1 recently and already a Vault 19 winner, taking the Paignton title with an 82.18 tournament average.
Logan Symons Jr – Two finals and three semi-finals across the latest five recorded events, including an 85.96 average during a recent Vault 19 final run.
Dylan Cowley – A JDC Foundation Tour winner with an unbeaten 80.15 title run and an 8–2 recent record.
Addison Hefferon – Another 8–2 player who has combined a recent Welsh final with a Vault 19 semi-final.
Jack Powell – Comes into the National Finals as a JDC VOLTS Regional Finals champion and has won nine of the latest ten matches in the database.
There are plenty I could have included instead. Oscar Rumsey, Ben Lundstrom, Joseph Lauridsen, Charlie Mossman and Sam Jones all arrive with recent titles on their records, while several others have already shown they can produce considerably bigger averages than their overall numbers might suggest.
A big opportunity at Hangar 61
For me, this is one of the more interesting tournaments taking place at Hangar 61 this year.
We talk a lot about pathways in darts, but the VOLTS series is a very visible example of one. Players have been competing around the country throughout the year and now 48 of them come together for a National Finals day.
By the end of Saturday, that field will have been reduced to just two.
And those two will have something rather special to look forward to: a final on the PDC World Grand Prix stage in October.
For the eventual winner, there's the additional prize of a 2027 JPL place.
Forty-eight young players arrive at Hangar 61 on Saturday morning.
For two of them, the journey continues onto a much bigger stage.
