The Highlands County Dart Association (HICDA) is a non-political, non-sectarian, not-for-profit and non sexist organization. The main purpose of the HICDA is to promote the sport of darts in Highlands County Florida, and to establish a friendly, competitive relationship among the members of the organization and the community. With the cooperation and support of the local proprietors, the HICDA strives to provide a fun, safe, pub-type environment for the play and viewing of the game of darts.
The HICDA is an active member of the Florida Dart Association (FDA). Membership to the HICDA also includes membership in the FDA. The members of this association have the opportunity to participate in FDA sanctioned tournaments around the state of Florida. The HICDA also participates in the FDA's state team competitions each year by sending a team from Highlands County to the regional and the state final events. There were 24 teams competing in the FDA state team competition in 2001. The HICDA was proud to host one of west division regional in September 1999. Seven other teams travel to the Highlands County area to participate in this event. The HICDA looks forward to hosting another event in the future.
The sanctioning body for the FDA, and therefor the HICDA, is the American Dart Association (ADO). The ADO was formed in the 1975 in Southern California and today is the only darts governing body in the United States recognized by the World Darts Federation (WDF). The ADO sponsors and supports not only national level events, but also international level events. The organization is an active member of the WDF which is comprised of approximately 55 countries. Both the ADO and WDF are currently pursuing the issue of making darts a future Olympic event, however even with 55 countries participating in the WDF, many of the countries governments do not officially recognize darts as a sport. This is currently the situation in the United States. Do to this situation, the WDF has been unable to meet the Olympic committees requirement for entering the sport as an Olympic event.