Author Archives: TT NORTH

It was a fantastic trip for Team NT to the Yukon. An amazing start to work on inter-territorial events in the future, #TrueNorth.

It is all about coming together, being stronger together, creating opportunities and possibilities. So great to see Team Yukon Table Tennis and Team NT Table Tennis building bridges, creating partnerships and making our sport stronger.
It is all about coming together, being stronger together, creating opportunities and possibilities. So great to see Team Yukon Table Tennis and Team NT Table Tennis building bridges, creating partnerships and making our sport stronger.

Beautiful media articles

https://www.whitehorsestar.com/Sports/yukon-and-n-w-t-train-for-table-tennis?fbclid=IwAR1N06Qm7zLY5H6WuexD5L4mEHFr-8DN0haAz3HY52Z3qqR0_MHutm6u22g

Gallery

Congratulations to Shari Olsen from Fort Smith in becoming a Territorial Umpire for the Northwest Territories in Table Tennis.

“I am always up for a challenge and trying new things. Table Tennis is a growing sport in the North and it seems to be the right fit. It was a great weekend and having some insight and directions from an international and experienced Canada Winter Games official was fantastic. Brian and Team Yukon were great and I am very thankful for their support.”

Shari only started with Table Tennis in 2018 but quickly learned about the sport. She officiated the Canada Games trials, the NWT School Championships and the “North of 60” challenge in Whitehorse, Yukon. Having done 100 matches in such short time, she is definitely going to be ready to umpire at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer this February.

“We are very proud of Shari” says Executive Director for Table Tennis North Thorsten Gohl. He continuous “She is involved in so many things in the North and we are grateful having her. She has done a lot of matches in such a short time and it was so great to see all the support that she got from our athletes, coaches, teachers, parents and more. Everyone seemed to be helping out, and at the end, Shari did an amazing job.”

Brian Stewart from Team Yukon, an international umpire, had more great things to say: “Shari is a perfect example of what a new umpire should be; she listened to hours of rules and stories, she jumped right into officiating singles and doubles matches, and in a just a day she passed her exam with flying colours! I am very proud to have been part of her development and I can’t wait to meet up with her again in Red Deer this February and then again to have her come to Whitehorse in 2020. As the only active official north of 60 for many years, I find it very exciting to have “co-workers” who understand the challenges northern officials for Table Tennis have. With such a strong addition to the northern contingent of officials, hopefully we can open up more opportunities for us in the north.”

The Table Tennis event at the 2019 Canada Winter Games will be hosted in Red Deer, Alberta, from February 15-22, 2019.

https://ttcanada.ca/northwest-territories-adds-new-territorial-umpire/

Table Tennis North will be hosting two trial weekends with a total of 1 officials clinic, 4 morning skills camps and 4 afternoon tournaments.

October 12-14, 2018 – Fort Providence
November 24-25, 2018 – Yellowknife, St. Patricks

Athletes are selected in the following categories (born in 2001 or after): 
• Male (three athletes)
• Female (three athletes)

The top 3 spots will be given to the top 3 ranked players in each category.

5 points for attending each skills camp (maximum 20 points)

Points system for the tournaments (maximum 40 points)

1. 10 points
2. 08 points
3. 06 points
4. 05 points
5. 04 points
6. 03 points
7. 02 points
8. 01 point

Each athlete will need to fill out a QUESTIONNAIRE about Table Tennis and submit it prior to the first skills camp.

Athletes will to have to pass the umpire exam. This can be done ONLINE via Table Tennis Canada or on October 12, 2018 (Fort Providence).

Table Tennis rules are available HERE!

There is a fee of $100 for the trials, including all skills camps and tournament fees per athlete. That does not include food or accommodation, but Table Tennis North can help and secure the accommodation.

If successful, there will be an additional fee of $150 for the Team NT Table Tennis uniform, provided by Table Tennis North (each participant of the trials can purchase the set).

SIGN UP for the trials in sending the first name, last name, birthdate, community and contact e-mail/phone number to [email protected] by October 11th, 2018! Arrangements for accommodation can be made in Fort Providence at the school if a chaperone is present. 

HERE is the full selection policy. 

We are looking forward to seeing you in October in Fort Providence or November in Yellowknife. GO TEAM NT GO!!!

It has been another amazing year for Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories. Here are some of the highlights of 2017:

• 60 professional Table Tennis tables are now in our communities and see a lot of action.
• 15 communities have been engaged with Table Tennis.
• Our “Elders in Motion” program has been a huge success and we were allowed to speak at the NWTRPA conference this year on bringing Elders, Kids and the communities together.
• Readers’ Digest featured a full story on Table Tennis North, reaching across the country and beyond.
• 135 kids showed up to the 2017 Territorial School Championships.
• Aurora Ford has become a major sponsor for Table Tennis North.
• Table Tennis North has been back to the Canadian Table Tennis Championships since over 30 years and reached the Round of 32 in the Men’s Single event.
• Thorsten was named Volunteer and Coach of the Year by the Territorial Sport Organization. He also received the Betty Tweedy Award by Table Tennis Canada and the Contributor to Sport award by Sport North.
• Aurora Fraser and Tamara Jovic have been named the Team of the Year by Sport North.

Just some of our many highlights of this year. Every time going into a gym, cafeteria, class room or really anywhere where we find a Table Tennis Table, is a highlight. We are grateful for everyone that has been involved this year and we are excited looking forward to 2018 and the excitement that the Arctic Winter Games will bring.

It’s the last territorial champion-ship of the calendar year and was one which provided the most unlikely of results.

The NWT Table Tennis Championships were held at Weledeh and St. Pat’s Gymnasiums on Dec. 15 and 16 and Zachary Mathison of Weledeh Catholic School made sure people knew it doesn’t matter how old you are, but rather that you can play the game. And he did just that, winning the Grade 8 boys singles title. Not a big deal until you realize that Mathison is only in Grade 3. Mathison said it was a challenge, but nothing he couldn’t handle. “I wasn’t really nervous,” he said. “The kids were just bigger, that’s all.” They were a bit bigger this time because the eight-year-old won the Grade 6 boys title last year as a Grade 2 student, but thought he could pull it off again this year. “I had some easy matches, some hard matches,” he said.

Just for a challenge, Mathison decided to enter the high school event to play doubles with his older brother, Christopher, who goes to St. Pat’s, and they won that. “The doubles was a bit harder,” said the younger Mathison. “They hit a bit harder but I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Christopher Mathison went on to win the Grade 9-12 boys singles in the high school division to complete the family sweep, which helped St. Pat’s win the overall banner in that category. While Mathison was busy dom-inating Grade 8 students as an eight-year-old, there were other divisions up for grabs.

St. Joe’s ended up winning the overall championship in the junior division thanks in large part to Alex Ramsey, Raine Mingo and Gracie Brennan winning the Grade 6 boys and girls and Grade 7 girls singles titles respectively. Mingo and Ramsey teamed up to capture the Grade 6 doubles title, which helped the school lock up the banner in their first year competing as a team. The overall banners were decided based on an aggregate system where the total number of points earned by a school through its results was divided by the number of athletes a school brought to produce an average score.

Cory Taylor was the school’s coach and said it was a pretty good debut for the Huskies. “Eugene (Roach, phys-ed teacher) and I ran table tennis as part of the after-school program and we used that as our practice,” he said. “We had some kids picking up racquets for the first time and some who obviously knew what they were doing and so they were challenging Eugene and I for matches.”

Singles
Grade 6 boys – Alex Ramsey, St. Joe’s
Grade 6 girls – Raine Mingo, St. Joe’s
Grade 7 boys – Nikkilesh Gohil, William McDonald
Grade 7 girls – Gracie Brennan, St. Joe’s
Grade 8 boys – Zachary Mathison, Weledeh
Grade 8 girls – Katherine Smallwood, William McDonald Doubles

Doubles
Grade 6 – Alex Ramsey and Raine Mingo, St. Joe’s
Grade 7 – Nikkilesh Gohil and Lennox Mutford, William McDonald
Grade 8 – Colton Robertson and Luke Kotaska, William McDonald

Overall banner – St. Joe’s Senior division

Singles

Grade 9-12 boys – Christopher Mathison, St. Pat’s
Grade 9-12 girls – Shannen Bonnetrouge, Fort Providence

Doubles
Christopher and Zachary Mathison

Overall banner – St. Pat’s

Deh Gáh School in Fort Providence is hosting a Table Tennis skills clinic from November 11th until 13th. In addition we will be hosting a coaching & officials clinic on October 9th in preparation to the 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games. Table Tennis will be hosted in Fort Smith at JBT Elementary School from March 18-24th, 2018.

Timeline

Saturday, November 11th, 2017
Coaching & Officials clinic

Saturday till Monday, November 11th-13th, 2017
Skills Camp

Fee

$50 for food (Saturday to Monday)
$100 for two nights at the Snowshoe Inn (per person, limited space)

Accommodation & Food

Snowshoe Inn, Fort Providence, food will be provided at the school.
Possibility to stay at the school.

Table Tennis Rules

We will follow the rules of the International Table Tennis Federation. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] and we will be happy to help you.

ITTF Rules: http://www.ittf.com/ittf_handbook/hb.asp?s_number=2

Deadline for registration is November 9th, 2017. For registration, please send and e-mail to [email protected] with the following information: First Name, Last Name, Community and birthdate.

If you have any more questions, please contact [email protected]. Thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you in Fort Providence!!!

Once again we are happy to see our articles in The Minor Hockey News! Check out the articles “What’s been happening with Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories” and “2016, the Year of Table Tennis North’s Executive Director Thorsten Gohl.”

A fun read and you will be up to date on what is happening with Table Tennis in the NWT.

Read the full articles right here: Minor Hockey News – Table Tennis

The 2017 Territorial Championships will be hosted from December 15-16th 2017 at St. Patricks in Yellowknife.

Timeline

Friday, December 15
4-8pm School Championships
6-9:30pm Yellowknife Open (+18 years)

Saturday, December 16
10am-6pm School Championships

Categories

Grade 6 Boys, Girls Singles
Grade 7 Boys, Girls Singles
Grade 8 Boys, Girls Singles
Grade 9 Boys, Girls Singles
Grade 10 Boys, Girls Singles
Grade 11 Boys, Girls Singles
Grade 12 Boys, Girls Singles

Grade 6-9 double mixed
Grade 10-12 double mixed

Fee

There is a $15 per category fee to participate in the tournament. That does not include accommodation and food for the weekend. You can participate in 2 categories, 1 single, 1 double.

Accommodation & Food

If you like to stay at the school, please contact us.

Table Tennis Rules

Depending on participants, we will play best out of 3 or best out of 5. We will follow the rules of the International Table Tennis Federation. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] and we will be happy to help you.

ITTF Rules: http://www.ittf.com/ittf_handbook/hb.asp?s_number=2

Deadline for registration is December 1st 2017. For registration, please send and e-mail to [email protected] with the following information: First Name, Last Name, Community, Birth Date and mention what categories you want to participate in (max. 2 categories). Also, please let us know if you want to stay at the school.

If you have any more questions, please contact [email protected]. Thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you in Yellowknife, December 15th, 2017.

Table Tennis December Poster

Do you want to become ultimate 2017 Corporate Team Table Tennis Champion? Then Aurora Ford Hay River and Table Tennis North would like your company to participate in this event!

Location: Aurora Ford Dealership, showroom, Hay River
Date: Saturday, November 4th, 2017
Time: 11:30am – 2:30pm
Teams: Corporate teams of 4 players

Paul Noel is from Belgium. He began playing Table Tennis at the age of six and by 11-years-old had joined a club. He did well through competition and would go on to obtain a Master’s in Physical Education and become a professional coach, after working his way up from an assistant coach.

He’s been involved in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Saskatchewan as a coach and has enjoyed his time giving back to the sport.

Table Tennis, Noel states, is a great way to build skills as children grow and develop: everything from agility, balance, coordination, catching, throwing, hitting, running, and jumping within the game. It also develops youths’ dexterity and focus as they utilize hand-eye coordination to return an opponents’ hit.

Paul was probably the youngest coach winning the European Cup during his 4 years in the German Bundesliga with TTC Jülich in the 90’s. He reached the cup final 4 times and won it 3 times during that time. Paul is since 2011 in Canada and the head coach for Table Tennis Saskatchewan, being the coach for gold medal winning Alayna Chen in the Senior Women Doubles category at the Canadian Championships.

We are very excited to have Paul in the Northwest Territories! Welcome!