Monthly Archives:September 2015

We are excited to have Canadian National Team Coach Maxime Surprenant work with participants in the Virtual Freestyle Ping Pong Challenge in live sessions next week.

On April 5-6, 8-9, 2021 at 5pm MST, there will also be 30 minute live virtual demonstrations of one of the activities per day, led by one of our Canadian National Team Coaches from Quebec, Maxime Surprenant. Everyone is free to join these sessions to learn how to do these challenges.

Join on Facebook Live or on Zoom

ZOOM link information (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87424728729?pwd=eUFEZFZpTkI3eHoreUwyc0NTajFFUT09
Passcode: 998946)

Maxime Surprenant is a full time table tennis coach since 2012, part of the national team coaching staff and Québec’s high performance program since then. He is competition development certified and is based in Montréal, Québec. He coached at several international events like 6 World Cadet Challenges, 2 Pan Am junior Championships, 3 World Junior Championships, 1 Pan Am Championship, 1 World Championship and 1 Pan Am Games. He was the men’s team coach at the 2015 Pan Am Games where the team got a bronze medal. Most recent results were bronze medal in junior boys team at 2019 Pan Am junior championship in Mexico and bronze medal in men’s team at 2019 Pan Am championship in Paraguay. He also took part in the ITTF World Hopes program conducting a Continental Hopes week in Paraguay in 2017. He is very passionate about table tennis and is a very energetic coach both in training and tournament situations. He is Edward Ly’s and Tommy Xu’s main coach who both have won many National titles in their cadet and junior categories.

Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, March 29, 2021 – Table Tennis North (TTN) has been hard at work developing virtual opportunities to engage youth, athletes, coaches and sports organizations this winter. Today, TTN is proud to launch its 2021 Virtual Ping Pong Challenge, an online event for individuals of all ages to complete locally from April 12-16, 2021. 

“We are excited to offer this challenge to encourage new and continued participation in the sport of Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories through a safe avenue during these unprecedented times,” said Thorsten Gohl, Executive Director for Table Tennis North. “The 2021 Virtual Freestyle Ping Pong Challenge is designed to be a fun event for all ages and abilities!”

The event comprises of four challenges: 1) Ping-Pong Flip; 2) Balance Jump; 3) Wall hit; and 4) Hand switch. Participants will record themselves completing all of the four challenges within 30 seconds each and submit a video to Table Tennis North. Officials will assess the results and calculate scores. There will be prizes awarded to first and second place winners of each division.

The Challenge is open to individuals residing in the Northwest Territories in the following age categories: under 13, under 15; under 19; 20 and over. Each category consists of a male and female division. For the Challenge guidelines and additional information, please visit: https://tabletennisnorth.ca/vfppc/

Table Tennis North is a not-for profit organization that supports, promotes and develops an active, healthy and fun environment with the sport of Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories.

Table Tennis North and Richmond Olympic Oval announced today a new webinar series to empower youth, sports enthusiasts, athletes, coaches, in the North and across the country, providing them with tools and knowledge on how to stay active, and both mentally and physically healthy during these challenging times. 

How do you stay confident in challenging moments? How do you use self-talk and past experiences as tools to enhance your confidence and trust in yourself? How do you fuel your body before competition? How can multisport fitness fit into the rest of your life without becoming your life?  These are some of the themes that will be discussed during these open, positive, and dynamic discussions!

Our experts include:- Mental Performance Coach: Scott Donald – Strength & Conditioning Coach: Emily Perseo – Registered Dietician: Evan Duxbury BSc, RD
Webinar details:

If your coaches, officials, athletes or administrators would like to join the webinars, you can do so by connecting to Table Tennis North’s Facebook page live videos and Zoom sessions at the above mentioned times. To connect via Zoom, participants can email info@tabletennisnorth.ca for more information. You can find all the recordings of our webinars right HERE!!!

A huge thank you to the Nunavut & NWT Lotteries for making this happen!!!

The Northwest Territories will participate in the 2021 Pan Canadian Team League. Starting on March 8th, we will be hosting 10 matches until March 31st, 2021.

Athletes from the Northwest Territories will only compete against each other, but collect points for their respective teams. A total of 7 Provinces & Territories are taking part in the competition, including several National Team Athletes.

Stay up to date with information on the league right HERE.
Here are the TEAMS, including our NT players.

Images from our first day of competition

The competition and live stream schedule will be announced next week. GO TEAM NT GO!!!

For more information about the competition, check out TABLE TENNIS CANADA’S WEBSITE.

What an amazing start we had in our Hockey & Table Tennis initiative. We love seeing two Territorial Sport Organizations come together and support athletes in becoming the best version of themselves.

Inside the Hay River Recreation Facilities, the evaluation was hosted on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 from 6-7:45pm. An off ice test that included reaction time, as well as eye hand coordination. On the ice it was all about recreation and the same with the test on the computer.

Evaluation Gallery

The first two clinics, with a total of 5 hours of training, started with the SWAG. Lovely bags, towels, t-shirts, shorts and a racket, was included in all that. Different balls to exercise and train with came later.

The sessions featured the basic knowledge of the sport, points to 11, 2 serves each, how to hold a racket, movement and technique.

“It was a lot of fun to see the kids doing the freestyle ping pong challenge with all different kind of balls, balloons” said Assistant Coach Conner Ivanko-McKay.

From using different balls to get the feeling of the racket, and learning how to hold a paddle, it went straight to the table. Learning the forehand movement as well as the fundamentals of how to move at the table. Using 3 different tables with 2-3 players each and different exercises, we could see some improvements right away.

Table Tennis skills gallery

What an amazing start in our adventure with Hockey & Table Tennis!!!

 The Arctic Winter Games International Committee announces the postponement of the Wood Buffalo 2022 Arctic Winter Games. 

March 3, 2021 (Whitehorse, YT) – The Arctic Winter Games International Committee (AWGIC), following discussions with Wood Buffalo 2022 Arctic Winter Games Host Society, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) and the Government of Alberta, has made the decision to postpone the Wood Buffalo 2022 Arctic Winter Games in a planned and proactive response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Games, originally scheduled to take place in Wood Buffalo from March 6-12, 2022, will be rescheduled to a later date to be announced. 

Here is more information:

Another great article in The Hub about our Hockey & Table Tennis initiative in Hay River. We love working with our athletes. What a fantastic first week we had. a

A great feature on Cabin Radio’s websites about our Hockey & Table Tennis project in Hay River. Check out the article below.

Yellowknife, February 2021 – An amazing start in the partnership between Table Tennis North and the Richmond Olympic Oval. Opening up the possibility during the pandemic, and beyond, for athletes from the three Territories to come together and do fitness sessions virtually, while also learning about mental preparedness and nutrition. 

“We have an amazing team from the Richmond Olympic Oval working with us” says Table Tennis Executive Director Thorsten Gohl. He continuous “We are so fortunate to work with Ashley, Emily, Evan and Scott, getting our kids in top shape and ready for future competitions like the Arctic Winter Games in 2022 and the Canada Winter Games in 2023. Plus, we hope to bring our athletes to the Canadian Championships this year.”

The Richmond Olympic Oval Team will provide a 12-week program exclusively for Table Tennis North. Weekly team training sessions will be held virtually on Zoom every Saturday at 10am. Mental Performance & Nutrition Seminars will be offered Bi-weekly Saturday 11am, also via ZOOM. These sessions are open to athletes support coaches, and parents. It is valuable for everyone to understand and reinforce these practices and implement them in all aspects of your lifestyle.

“It has been fantastic to collaborate with Table Tennis North to provide a unique opportunity for their athletes to access an integrated offering of mental performance, nutrition and strength and conditioning services. It is always enjoyable for the Oval team to work with motivated athletes and an organization like Table Tennis North which takes creative approaches to developing their athletes.” – Andrew Clark, Richmond Olympic Oval’s Senior Manager – Oval Experiences 

Coach Emily is excited about the possibilities that are ahead of us. “It is such a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with these young athletes from our Northern Territories. Having the ability to connect with them from so many different places and foster a sense of community and love of sport in the time of COVID-19 is such a rare and special thing. I consider it my absolute privilege to be a part of their journey and know they will all go far!”

“A huge thanks to the COVID-19 relief funding from the Canadian Government, and enabling us to making this happen. It is all about coming together to support each other for the best outcome. We love seeing our kids excel in what ever sport they love doing. If Table Tennis is part of that, amazing.” – Thorsten Gohl, Executive Director Table Tennis North

We are looking forward to these sessions and the involvement of our athletes in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and of course cheering for our National Team Athlete Sophie Gauthier. 

Amazing things happen when organizations come together for a common goal. From February 23rd until April 4th, 2021 that will happen in Hay River where a pilot project will be launched to increase eye hand coordination and reaction time for Hockey Goalies through Table Tennis. This is a great partnership between Table Tennis North, Hockey NWT, Hockey North, Table Tennis Canada, Hay River Minor Hockey and the Sport Information Resource Centre, to showcase how important and beneficial coming together is.

Executive Director for Table Tennis North, Thorsten Gohl is excited about this project. “It is so great to see it all unfold. We have so many amazing people in the North that help and support us to make this happen. The goal for Table Tennis is to enhance the skills of any athletes, support them, give them the tools, experiences and crazy ‘out of the box’ fun ideas in becoming amazing human beings and role models for our communities. Honestly, it can be that simple.”

The project will start on February 23rd with an evaluation of eight U11 – U18 hockey goalies. Tests will be done on and off ice to identify their reaction time, their eye hand coordination and their overall fitness. All athletes will receive a hockey jersey, as well as professional Table Tennis equipment to support them in performing their best. The Table Tennis sessions will start on February 25th with a small assessment and the basic knowledge of the sport. Including how to hold the racket, the basic rules of the game, how to move and what are the expectations of this program.

“This initiative by Table Tennis North is a great example of cooperation between sports. Table Tennis Canada thanks Thorsten Gohl for creating and implementing this creative project.” – Adham Sharara, President Table Tennis Canada

Table Tennis Canada and Table Tennis North will offer a specialist training program for hockey goalies. The plan will include footwork drills within small spaces, reaction time training, challenges that will include hockey goalie gear and a lot of fun activities. Some of the best coaches in Canada will give their input for a “dynamic ever changing” plan for the best outcome of this project.

“We love when things like this happen for our players and we look forward to building relationships and working more closely  with other territorial sport organizations to help maximize the benefits and work towards common goals for all athletes in the NWT.” Pennie Pokiak, President Minor Hockey Hay River

The Don Stewart Recreation Centre will be the host of this project, offering us the ice for the evaluation and the Table Tennis area for the sport specific clinics. Stephanie Millete, Director of Recreation & Community Services for the Town of Hay River welcomes the opportunity to be part of this. He says “We are excited to have projects like this come to our beautiful venue. We are sure it will be successful an I am looking forward to seeing it unfold.”

“This is a great initiative to help develop transferable skills between Table Tennis and hockey goaltenders.   Thank you to Hay River Minor Hockey for making their athletes available for this project. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Table Tennis North to enhance the development of multi-sport athletes across the North.” – Kyle, Executive Director Hockey NWT, Hockey North

We will be working with professional videographers to capture the “behind the scenes” activities, and also to use high speed cameras to collect data for the research component of this project. The research team at SIRC (Sport Information Resource Centre) will evaluate the program and mobilize the findings for the sport community. The goal is to provide a top-notch training program that goes beyond the game to build resilience and character.

“SIRC is thrilled to be contributing to this partnership. We know that evidence is critical for program planning and improvement, and we are excited to support this program through credible research and evaluation.”   Debra Gassewitz, President Sport Information Resource Centre

A huge thanks to the COVID-19 relief funding from the Government of Canada, and for the financial contribution from the Mackenzie Recreation Association for this project. Without amazing partners like these, this would not be possible.

Thank you | Merci | Mársı | Kinanāskomitin | Hąį’ | Quana | Qujannamiik | Quyanainni | Máhsı | Máhsı | Mahsı̀