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California, June 2017 – Yellowknife’s Paul Devitt is known for his love for Table Tennis. This time it brought him to the World Champion’s Table Tennis Academy in California, the home of US Men’s National Team player JHA Kanak and his coach Stefan Feth.

“Zhang, Li, Nan, and Stefan are great people and amazing coaches. They did an excellent job organizing the camp and showing me what I needed to focus on to improve my game” Paul shared about his experience at the Academy.

Coach Stefan was very impressed “He is a very nice guy and worked very hard.”

Additional coaches are Li Zhenshi und Zhang Li, each of them, 4 times World Champion in Table Tennis. “It was great,” Paul said, “I was especially impressed to see a picture of Li next to President Nixon as part of the Chinese National team that participated in the historic “Ping Pong diplomacy” initiative. That initiative helped establish diplomatic relations between the USA and China.”

Well done Paul!! Inspiring for us, seeing you improving your game, and representing the Northwest Territories with pride!

JBT Elementary School was a great host for this Arctic Winter Games test event. The staff and teachers were excited to host Table Tennis North and Aerobic Table Tennis during the week and in preparation for the event, we had a lot of helping hands.

Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Fort Providence and Hay River participated in the games with a total of 18 Athletes over 2 days.

During the week Table Tennis North and MACA hosted an Officials and Coaching Clinic were a total of 19 participants got their first introduction to Community Table Tennis Coaching and Introduction to Officiating. Norman Tang, Board of Directors of Table Tennis Canada, came to host the Officials Clinic and was the Referee for the tournament.

Here are the results:

“I would like to participate in the tournament. Winning or loosing, it does not matter. As long as I have fun” said 9 year old Sheena who just started playing Table Tennis a few month ago. She was also the umpire for the finals of the Junior event.

JBT Elementary will be the host of the 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games for Table Tennis and we are excited about it. “It will definitely be one of the best events of the Games” says Executive Director Thor Gohl. And we believe him!

Congratulations to the winners of the Open and Women’s category of the 2017 Aurora Ford Sales South Slave Open as well as all the participants.

“Back from my trip this week and people at each of the three venues I competed at could not have been friendlier or more helpful. As expected, I lost most games to better and more experienced players. Still, I had fun and gained valuable experience competing against players with many different styles, serves and racket types.“

Paul Devitt is on the way to improving his game over the last couple of years enjoying regular practices at home and at the Yellowknife Table Tennis Club.  Last year he also trained for two weeks in Hungary and is continuing to take lessons from expert coaches when traveling to southern Canada. This time he travelled to Alberta and Manitoba to participate in some of their local tournaments.

“Also, nice to hear from several Winnipeg players that my game has noticeably improved since I participated in the February Golden Boy” says Paul.

In Edmonton Paul played with team mate Lewis Cheung in the Team A U1500 category as well as the Doubles U2500 event. To his surprise and everyone else’s (including Lewis) they finished second in both events.

“Also no surprise, that I lost to the eventual winner Brian Ho in the first round of the Open Singles event (Brian is the best player in Alberta and finished second at a recent 2017 Butterfly Canada Cup Final).  However, I had fun as Brian was a great sport and at my request during one game told me in advance the spin he would use for each serve.”

It is so great seeing Athletes from the NWT participating in tournaments outside the NWT. It is not so easy to gain experience in a small Territory like ours, so competing where ever possible is the best way to learn.

Congratulations Paul!

Dusk til Dawn Purple Paisley Ping Pong Pajama Party Fundraiser  April 21, 2017

Prince inspired me to play Ping Pong again …and to raise money for Autism Society NWT! I’ve always loved the music of Prince and would have loved to see him live in concert, but living in the far north, I never got the chance. When he died suddenly last year on April 21^st, I was devastated. So I made the pilgrimage to the tribute concert in Minneapolis last October and went to visit his recording studios at Paisley Park. Right there in the middle of the studio was his ping pong table! I packed up a racket and played table tennis for the first time in forty years!

When I came back to Fort Smith, I kept playing and promoting the game. Over the winter I got the idea to do a tribute to Prince on the anniversary of his death. He was all about music, dusk ‘til dawn dance parties, …and ping pong! He was also a quiet philanthropist who anonymously gave money to many charitable causes. One of the rare public charitable activities he did was to play several benefit concerts for Autism Rocks, a UK based foundation. So what better way to pay tribute to Prince than a Dusk til Dawn Ping Pong Pajama Party Fundraiser in support of our northern Autism Society NWT!

I’m so excited about the response from the community! People love the idea! It’s going to be rocking, with music, ping pong, and a celebration of the differences and the unique potential of all members of our community. The money we raise will stay in the north and go to support individuals and families living with autism spectrum disorder. Prince is loving it!

Lesley Paulette

[email protected]
Or text or phone at 867-872-0956

What a great event and an amazing idea. Check out the for more information!!!

All donations will go to NWT Autism Society.

Table Tennis will be featured at the Snowking Castle!!!

Come by on March 19th from 1-3pm and say “Hi”. Come out and have fun playing Table Tennis on Great Slave Lake, challenge your friends, family to a match of Table Tennis.

The 2017 Territorial Championships will be hosted from January 27-29th 2017 at Deh Gah School in Fort Providence.

Timeline

Friday, January 27th 2017
J18 Doubles
C15 Doubles
Junior Mixed Doubles

Saturday, January 28th 2017
J18 Singles
C15 Singles
Senior Open Singles
H13 Singles
Senior Open Doubles

Sunday, January 29th 2017
J18, C15, H13 Single/Doubles Play Offs and Finals

Categories

Junior 18 Boys, Girls Singles/Doubles (J18 – born 1999 or later)
Cadet 15 Girls, Boys Singles/Doubles (C15 – born 2002 or later)
Hopes 13 Boys, Girls Singles (H13 – born 2004 or later)
Senior Open Singles Women/Men
Senior Open Doubles

Each athlete can participate in 2 single and 2 double events.

Fee

There is a $15 per category fee to participate in the tournament. That does not include accommodation and food for the weekend.

Accommodation & Food

If you like to stay at the school, please contact us. There will be no additional fee. We can arrange food at the school, what will be an additional $75 per person for the full weekend (Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, lunch, dinner, Sunday breakfast, lunch).

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 January 20th 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 2 single categories and 1 double category you want to participate in. Also, please let us know if you want to stay at the school and/or want to eat at the school.

If you have any more questions, please contact [email protected]. Thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you in Fort Providence on January 27th 2017!!!

Table Tennis North visited the Yellowknife Table Tennis Club this Sunday, November 20th 2016. It was great to see so many players come out and having fun playing Table Tennis.

Contact: (867) 444-8531 (Vincent – text for further information)

There is limited spaces, so please contact us for more information and we can get you in touch with the right person.

Weledeh Catholic School in Yellowknife was the host of the 2016 Yellowknife Table Tennis Open. A beautiful gym, set up with 8 professional Table Tennis tables and 11 excited players to participant in the tournament.

“We only had 6 medals, but really, EVERYONE was a WINNER”, a very nice comment by Table Tennis North Executive Director Thor Gohl. With a big smile on his face he continuous “This was our first ever Table Tennis tournament in Yellowknife as a Territorial Sport Organization. Loosing or winning, everyone had fun. Actually winning or almost winning is a better way to describe it.”

Men’s Open 

1. Davor
2. Denis
3. Jeremy Kielstra

Women’s Open

1. Akiko Iwase
2. Shirley Zhang
3. Slavica Jovic

Thank you so very much for everyone coming out for a fun evening of Table Tennis and supporting our Territorial Organization!

Friday Fun Night at the Church Club in Yellowknife. Shirley/Aki beat Thorsten/Nick with the score of 12-10, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-6. A lot of laughter and some great rallies!!!