Sheaugh Costello was practically born with a set of darts in her hands. Her parents, Michael and Bridget Costello, met while playing on opposing darts teams in the 1980s.
“One night my mom beat my dad, and he swore he was going to marry her,” she said in an interview. “We keep it in the family.”
Costello, 29, first began throwing darts for fun at home in Southampton. Her father, who founded the Greater Suffolk Darts League, “never pushed me to learn. I don’t think he wanted me to be a barfly.” Eventually, she said, he noticed that she had natural talent, and he changed his mind.
She didn’t start playing competitively until 2013, when she joined the team at Buckley’s Irish Pub in Center Moriches. It was there that she fell in love twice — once with the thrill of competition, and once with Mike Todd, her boyfriend, who is an owner of the pub.
Costello can hit her targets with ease, dominating in team tournaments regionally and both team and solo play in New York State and the eastern United States. She plays for Southampton’s Fellingham’s restaurant, among others; that team won the local league championship in March with the help of her numerous clutch throws each week. Her next big event will be the Championship Darts Circuit, a series of national tournaments that has the potential to lead her to her ultimate bull’s-eye. That’s the “big stage,” as she calls it — the Professional Darts Corporation in Europe.
The World Darts Federation ranks her among the top 350 players internationally and she currently stands at No. 67 among women in the United States. With professional aspirations, she plays at least four days each week. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Todd equipped a backyard shed with a dartboard so Costello could stay on top of her game. Even a few recent injuries couldn’t hold her back.
“I’ve played tournaments on crutches or right after abdominal surgery, and won,” Costello said. “They hated that. No one likes losing to a player on crutches.”
Along the way, Costello aims to help the sport shed its salty reputation as a drinking game that belongs in bars. “I wish people knew that there’s so much more to it,” she said.
“Don’t get me wrong — I enjoy league nights, having a beer or a couple of shots with the boys . . . but maybe we can get more attention by not being a bunch of clowns,” Costello said, clarifying that she doesn’t lump herself in with the circus. “When you do make it to the big stage, you’re not allowed to have anything other than a pitcher of water and the glass that they give you.”
Her strength, she said, is her “mental game.” No one, absolutely no one, gets inside her head. And no one, absolutely no one, can take down her confidence.
“If you can beat that, all you have to have is hand-eye coordination and stamina,” she said. “I might have bad throws or bad nights, but if you don’t have the confidence, you’re done. . . . I used to never give myself credit, but you don’t get anywhere in life if you do that.”
Holding a trio of darts between her fingers like a sporty version of Marvel’s Wolverine, Costello reflected on her upward trajectory.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do,” she said. “I just want to be the best I can be, but I hope I never reach my best. I want to always be getting better.”