Ming Huang and Raghvi Sharma, two of the Yukon's top table tennis players, took part in an Introduction to Competition coaching course over the weekend at the Canada Games Centre. The course, facilitated from Ottawa, was co-delivered in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

Kevin Murphy, the territory's table tennis coach and course facilitator, said it was the first time the course had been offered.

"It was a pilot workshop," said Murphy. "I was approached by Thor (Gohl) the coach in N.W.T. who helped develop the course, in the summer, specifically about Raghvi and Ming to see if they'd be interested."

The course was developed by Table Tennis Canada. Murphy said regardless of COVID-19, it was always going to be online over a video call.

The set-up in both the Yukon and N.W.T. was simple, with a computer connected to Zoom, and a table tennis table in the middle. The prospective coaches worked on handouts, answering questions, and teaching and learning in a practical manner on the table.

Everything went as planned, said Murphy. Over the two days, they covered the material for the base and advanced training modules, while asking questions, doing exercises, and presenting structured practice plans. It was a total of 16 hours and over 1,000 pages to cover all the materials.

Marles Martins, the technical development manager, said the project was a huge success – especially for female involvement in the sport. Huang and Sharma were joined by two other women in the N.W.T. in taking the course.

"It is really satisfying and an honour to be part of this first blended learning Introduction to Competition Workshop Pilot. It was a tremendous learning curve that it is going to help all of Learning Facilitators across the country," said Martins.

"Closely guided by their onsite Learning Facilitators Thorsten Gohl and Kevin Murphy our participants truly showed the power of the Women in Sport and how they intend to use our Table Tennis as a force for good in this complicated times that we are living in. The future is bright.”

Murphy said having two more coaches in the territory will help the sport grow.

"I hope it helps it grow," said Murphy. "It is going to at least help the girls. I hope they stay involved and help others learn the game. You have to take the chance on those who show interest.

"This course will help them in many facets of life, not just table tennis."

Following the course was Luba Sadovska and Zedplin Law, Table Tennis Canada's Master Coach Developers. All coach developers will meet next week to provide feedback and discuss the next steps in bringing all content alive through the workshops.

There is still more work to be done for the prospective coaches. This includes participation in four multi-sport courses through the National Coaches Certification Program (NCCP), three more virtual technical courses, successfully finishing the club empire exam and handing in their portfolio, and participate in an evaluation process that will showcase their skills in training and competition.

Coach evaluators will help and support them in the next six months to reach the final goal of being certified as Introduction to Competition coaches.

Murphy said there are some practical elements to the training that can not be completed yet. On Friday, sports organizations were informed that after-school facility bookings would be delayed further until Nov. 23.

Until table tennis can get a gym, Huang and Sharma will not be able to help coach other players.