麻豆社区

The president of Table Tennis Yukon is hoping to share his love of the sport with the community this season.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great game to come and play,鈥� said president Dave Stockdale. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fun thing.鈥�

The club has drop-ins every Wednesday and Friday evenings from 7:30 to 10 p.m. and Sunday afternoons from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at 脡cole Whitehorse Elementary School , where the association has about eight tables.

Last year, with major events like the Arctic Winter Games, membership swelled to the low 90s.

Stockdale said the association bought seven new tables last year. They cost around $1,300 each and were distributed around the territory. One table now resides in Keno City, while three made their way to Dawson City and its growing club of table tennis enthusiasts.

Last season was the first time in recent history that the Dawson City club was affiliated with Table Tennis Yukon. In the past they had done their own thing.

For the first time since 1970, a table tennis trial was held outside of Whitehorse. Dawson City hosted a trial for the Arctic Winter Games. The 1970 trial was held in Elsa for the first Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife.

Yukon table tennis athletes travelled a lot this year, including to the Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk, Greenland. The Yukon team won three bronze medals at that multi-sport event.

鈥淚t was an excellent performance and augers well for the future,鈥� wrote coach Kevin Murphy in his coach鈥檚 report for the Table Tennis Yukon annual general meeting.

Players also travelled to the Alaska/Yukon Challenge in Anchorage this year and the junior national championships in Winnipeg.

Stockdale recognizes that without a major event to draw in members, it could be hard to grow the membership this year.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a very slow start to the year ... It鈥檚 hard to grow,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e just realized we should be getting people to play the game just to play the game.鈥�

The Whitehorse club will be hosting a Family Doubles Tournament on Sunday at Whitehorse Elementary School starting at 2 p.m. The event is open to everyone and all equipment will be provided. There is no cost to play.