'My son and daughter are closer to that dream than I am': Stowe Buntz aiming to make darting dream of his kids come true

Stowe Buntz will be one of the most dangerous US players when the US Darts Masters begins in the early hours of Saturday morning UK time and 'The Neon Nightmare' will aim to bring his top game to New York.

He will face Luke Humphries and it is all about new perspective and new opportunities for the player initially dubbed the American Peter Wright.

"I think after my poor performance at Ally Pally, I decided to put the darts down for a month or so. Got together with some friends and family and doing some hunting and fishing. Just tried to not put the pressure or image on me. Then I told myself when I get back on the circuit, don't put expectations on yourself and just have fun," said Buntz to Online Darts.

"The competition (CDC) is growing weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly. People are seeing the opportunities the North Americans are getting, they're getting anxious and they want it. It's awesome to watch and be a part of."

Now there will be five Ally Pally spots for the American/North American names and he said that it is going to make it more cutthroat in a good way.

"I think it's going to be even more cutthroat than it is and I mean that in a good way. If one of us gets a hot hand and doubles up and I'll use (Leonard) Gates as an example, he went out and won Continental Cup and Cross Border. If he wins the North American Championship, he's taking another spot so it's going to get to the point where some of us are going to be rooting for and against other players. It's going to get real interesting and fun."

He burst onto the scene previously at the Grand Slam of Darts and he said he's had to reset his expectations but knows what he can do.

"I can get back to that level and that's what I'm working towards. I think it starts with my mental game, happiness, humble place and no high expectations. Enjoy the moment, the darts. I think I drifted away from that over the past year, I definitely went and put undue pressure on myself and the results show it."

"I know I have more in the tank and more of a personal competition with myself."

His kids are also following in his footsteps but unlike him, they have dreams which they can fulfill. He is all about helping them now as opposed to himself.

"My son is closer to that dream than I am, my daughter is. I just sacrificed going to an event and sent my son and my daughter to Canada to play in the WDF event. My daughter won the new 23 girls event which qualified her for Budapest. My son also took four second places and got top 16 in the singles. He's also a CDC Tour Card holder now. I feel that way as he's at the beginning of the rainbow, I'm at the end."

"They're just as competitive as me. She has her eyes set on Lakeside. There's the dream where we can all compete at a high level over in England or abroad. Right now, I'm pushing more for them than myself."

"All three of us are qualified right now for Budapest. I'm definitely not going, I'm going to work it out that my kids can go. Right now I don't do hardly any of the WDF events. All my eggs are in the CDC/PDC basket which takes up a lot of my time off work and financial responsibility. That's my focus and that's where I'm going to continue to stay at."