Joyce Bachli has come a long way as a table tennis umpire since her inaugural tournament at the 2006 Arctic Winter Games in Sitka, Alaska.

Since the Sitka Games, Bachli has gone on to accomplish a lot in the sport, including umpiring at several prestigious competitions, which include the 2007 Canada Winter Games and 2007 nationals in Edmonton.

Recently, Bachli added to her long list of accomplishments by obtaining a national certification, making her the highest ranking umpire in the Yukon.

"I just think it's fantastic that she has that tenacity to stick with it and take it all the way to being a national umpire," said Yukon Table Tennis president Dave Stockdale. "It's taken a lot of work and she should be really congratulated for that."

One of the main reasons that Bachli became involved as a table tennis umpire was because of the Canadian Table Tennis Association's 2005 goal to attract as many umpires in the territory as possible.

That led to international umpire Karol Ziduliak visiting the Yukon to lead a few clinics, which was a major asset to Bachli and a number of other Yukoners with obtaining their club umpire classification in the spring of 2005.

Bachli said there was reluctance by some people in the community to obtain the club certification.

"Many didn't want to do this, but because their kids were involved we thought it could be something to do with our kids," she said. "I just sort of went along with it because of my kids and actually my oldest daughter Zara said to me ‘You have come this far, you may as well keep going.'"

Bachli's kids, Zara and Ryan, have been competitive in the sport since 2003 and have participated at the Arctic Winter Games, the Canada Winter Games as well as a number of other tournaments in Canada and the United States.

Just six months after she obtained her club umpire certification, Bachli improved her status to include the provincial classification, which meant that she was eligible to participate in the 2006 Arctic Winter Games.

Bachli said she found it stressful umpiring at the 2006 games.

"I didn't know at that point whether I wanted to continue on or not, but Karol took me aside and he said ‘You are very good and don't be intimidated, this is your first tournament,'" she said. "If he hadn't have done that I probably wouldn't have gone on, but he was really encouraging me. He said ‘Your calls are really accurate, you just need to have more practice.'"

Bachli stuck with it and it wasn't long before she was feeling a lot more comfortable in her role as an umpire.

Her talent for umpiring was even noticed by members of the Canada Table Tennis Association. While officiating at the 2007 nationals a national administrator in the program suggested that she go for her national certification.

Bachli decided to make an attempt at it and signed up to do the course, which was held in Richmond, B.C. from May 16 to 18.

In Richmond, the evaluation consisted of a one workshop with a written exam at the end, umpiring sessions and a one-on-one question and answer evaluation.

At the end of August, Bachli finally received her national certification in the mail, which besides the certificate, included a pin and an activity card.

For the national umpire activity card to be valid an individual must participate in a minimum of three events per season, which runs from July 1 to June 30, as well as a minimum of two tournaments per year in their own association.

A national certification means Bachli can umpire in both Canada and the United States. So far she plans on going to the Edmonton Open in November and a tournament in Baltimore with her son Ryan.

Bachli said it has become a lot easier umpiring since her first tournament in Sitka.

"I feel a lot more confident when I make a call that I am not going to be questioned because I don't know the rules."

Stockdale said there is a real benefit for the club as a result of Bachli having her national certification.

"I believe she will be able to instruct local club umpires now," he said. "She will be our go-to person for officials. Hopefully she will stay with the association and we will be able to build up a nice pool of officials, who we will be able to use at our local tournaments and future Arctic Winter Games."

Upcoming events for the Yukon Table Tennis Association include a ranking tournament on Sunday Sept. 28.

The tournament is being held at Whitehorse Elementary School and has a $2 entry fee to participate in.

Registration can be done on the day of tournament, starting at 1:30 p.m.