While the Whitehorse Table Tennis Club (WTTC) has certainly experienced a growth spurt this year, they are still one of the smallest sport clubs among the giants in the territory.

Table tennis is the second most popular sport in the world with millions taking part, especially in the hot zones of Europe and Asia. But in Canada, it lacks the attention and popularity some feel it deserves.

One of the people hoping to change all of that is Attila Csaba, a junior development coach with Table Tennis Canada. Csaba, who was a member of the Hungarian team as a player and is now based out of Ottawa, has been involved with table tennis for 38 years.

He was in Whitehorse this past weekend to work with the Arctic Winter Games athletes, as well as elementary school students across the city, in an effort to promote the sport. It was his second trip to the territory.

'I really was very satisfied (with the trip),' he said in an interview Monday. 'I was able to teach around 200 kids, just the basic skills. I also showed them a DVD, to help them view it as a competitive sport.'

The students learned how to hold a paddle properly, as well as hold and hit the ball. The main purpose of the school visits was to generate interest in the local club, said Csaba, as well as interest in coaching there were three coaching clinics held over the week. The idea behind that is to gather more coaches for the 2007 Canada Games.

'We are very excited about the Canada Games,' said Csaba. 'I saw the Games Centre and it's beautiful. I travel all over the world and this is a world-class facility. This should be one of the best Canada Games yet.'

As a physical education teacher, Csaba approaches his table tennis clinics somewhat different than most coaches at the national level. He has the kids build up their skills first, with aerobic activities and exercise, then he lets them start playing.

The local school clinics seem to have paid off already, with several kids and their families showing up at the WTTC drop-in Sunday afternoon at Whitehorse Elementary School. Csaba said there are millions of people in Canada who are playing table tennis in their basements, but they need to get out and play games against other people and enjoy themselves.

'This is a sport you can do at all levels and all ages, girls and boys. That's the beauty of it.

'I didn't need to convince them (to play table tennis). This sport is selling itself everywhere in the world. You just have to introduce it and let them take it from there.

Kids are observant, he added. They know it's a fast, physical sport with lots of variations in shots. The leading table tennis nations introduce their athletes to the sport at just six or seven years old and have the elite practicing every day at special table tennis schools by the time they are eight or nine years old.

It's taken some time, but he believes Canada is starting to catch up. The Canadian juniors placed third at the world championships this year and are working on podium finishes at the 2008 Olympics.

Csaba said he hopes to see an athlete from the Yukon join the junior national team in the future, and they will get a good head start when they compete in the 2007 Games. Dave Stockdale, the president of Table Tennis Yukon, said the territory is also hoping to send a junior team to the national championships in Montreal in July, and perhaps an adult team as well.

'They've all improved from last year,' said Csaba of the competitive athletes he worked with while in Whitehorse. 'But they have to practice even more because the competition is big at Arctic Winter Games. You have to focus on each tournament, but I think the big focus should be 2007.'

Representing the Yukon at the Arctic Winter Games will be: Ryan Bachli and Malkolm Boothroyd, in juvenile boys; Claire Abbott and Jada Powell, in juvenile girls; Logan Gray and Ben Barrett-Forrest, in junior boys; and Zara Bachli and Karlie Knight in junior girls.

The alternates are William Kennedy and Tanner Hougen. Travelling with the team will be coaches Kevin Murphy and Edna Knight.

Csaba hopes to come back once more before 2007 and do some more work with the players representing the Yukon. There's been talk of a possible summer camp, but Stockdale said it's all a matter of finding a time that works for everyone.

Whitehorse will be hosting the Western Canadian table tennis championships in May. Details of the event have yet to be finalized.

Meanwhile, Table Tennis Yukon recently held a mixed doubles tournament in Whitehorse. Kevin Murphy and Jada Powell took first place in Division A while Debbie Abbott and Sandy Neumann were second. In Division B, it was David Zheng and Edna Knight claiming top spot while Malkolm Boothroyd and Claire Abbott were second.

Brian Stuart and Joyce Bachli placed first in Division C while second sport went to Alex Zheng and Khang Pham.

And at the last ranking tournament held by the WTTC, here were the results:

Adult

1. Kevin Murphy

2. Steve Fecteau

3. Dave Stockdale

4. Ken Madsen

5. Edna Knight

6. Ralph Wohlfarth

7. Wendy Boothroyd

Junior

1. Ryan Bachli

2. Malkolm Boothroyd

3. Logan Gray

4. Zara Bachli

5. Tanner Hougen

6. Karlie Knight

7. William Kennedy

Juvenile

1. Jada Powell

2. Claire Abbott

3. Seamus Beairsto

4. Khang Pham

5. Stephen Wohlfarth

6. Conrad Wohlfarth