Kody Phillips is no stranger to being the youngest competitor in the room.

The Austin grad, who turns 21 in a month, has been competing in adult dart leagues and tournaments over the past few years and now he’s ready to take the next step.

Phillips recently competed in the Junior National Darts Championships in Bloomington, which includes competitors under the age of 21, where he took first place in cricket Singles Level 1 by going unbeaten and he finished in seventh place in 501 Singles Level 1. Phillips said he had to shoot around 60 games to qualify for the tournament and he was pleased with how he fared against some of the best youth darts players in the Midwest.

“It was a fun day,” Phillips said. “I know for my age I’ve been told I’m very good. You don’t see a lot of 19 or 20 year olds shoot what I can shoot. In that tournament everybody was the same and it was a challenge. It was a good time.”

Whenever Phillips plays cricket, he always goes for points for first before he begins to close out any numbers. He considers a 100-point lead a good starting point so he has a safety blanket.

“My goal is to always be 100 points of the opponent so I’m not chasing points. Always make sure you’re ahead,” Phillips said.

The National tournament was the first junior tournament that Phillips had ever competed in, but he is no stranger to tournament play. When he won his first adult tournament a couple of years ago, he knew that he could have some success and it’s driven Phillips to get out and play as much as he can.

“Playing against older players makes me want to shoot better and it makes me want to show what the younger generation can do,” Phillips said. “It makes me want to prove that those guys aren’t always the best.”

Phillips was a standout bowler for the Packer bowling team when he was in high school and he still bowls occasionally, but his focus has been set on darts over the past few years. When he practices, Phillips will push himself to extreme limits. One of his routines is to aim at doubles, triples or bulls eyes all night and another method he will take is to try and hit a difficult close out number, like a 90 with just three throws.

That time in practice has carried over to help Phillips when the pressure is on in big tournaments.

“The biggest thing I always do is just think in my head that I’m just practicing,” Phillips said. “Just think in your head that you’re by yourself or your with a friend and don’t let the pressure get to you.”

Phillips has an ultimate goal in mind to earn a sponsorship and play with the best darts players in the nation.

“I’d love to represent a company and get sent somewhere to go throw in a tournament,” Phillips said. “That’s my goal is to be able to wear the jersey with a company name on it. I want to be able to play with all of the top pros.”

Although Phillips takes dart tournament play very seriously, he’s also down to play a casual game with a friend or two on a given night. He hasn’t let himself get to the point where the sport has added any stress to his life.

“I’m always playing for fun unless it’s a tournament,” Phillips said. “I’ll come out and throw with people and that’s always good practice.”

Besides throwing darts and bowling, Phillips also enjoys playing softball in his spare time.