Quebec, July 29, 2024 – A girls camp bringing together some 21 players from across the country, i.e. 8 provinces and territories, took place in Quebec City from July 25 to 28, 2024. This 4-day camp had 2 main objectives: the first, to bring together young table tennis players to allow them to train together. Indeed, many of them do not have the chance to practice with different female partners in their respective clubs. The other objective is to train female coaches. This camp is therefore part of the brand new mentorship program for female coaches launched by Table Tennis Canada last July.
Mariann Domonkos, whose reputation for coaching is well established, led the camp with the help of 4 young coaches present: Ivy Liao (BC), Joyce Xu and Iryna Shevchenko (ON), and Phuong Nguyen (MB). Julia Charbonneau, President of the ÉDI Committee, completed the team of coaches. Also of note was the appreciated participation of Saskatchewan coach Huan Ye. Karine Dumontier, the EDI program manager at Table Tennis Canada, ensured the logistics of the camp.
“I had the privilege to work with a group of such impressive young women.” Mariann Domonkos, mentor of the Table Tennis Canada Mentorship program for female coaches and head coach of the 2024 girls training camp.
Ivy Liao, one of the mentees added: ” I greatly appreciated the encouragement, support and trust received from Mariann and other coaches when leading certain parts of the training sessions. This helped me practice group management, leadership, creativity, communication skills and more- a rare opportunity at home in Vancouver with such a large group.”
The young table tennis players for their parts, benefited from 2 training sessions per day, in addition to enjoying 2 yoga initiation sessions aligned with the table tennis and training of athletes, activities to get to know each other better, encouragement to write down in a training journal, opportunities to practice French for some and English for others.
Several small touches were also there to make it enjoyable for everyone, including an exchange of gifts, some special awards, a surprise bag for each and photo sessions. The players also each left with a jersey and water bottle identified to Table Tennis Canada and the EDI program. Finally, the group also had the chance to discover the beautiful city of Quebec City on foot and by cruise in the evening. These 4 action-packed days were appreciated by the participants and coaches present. Here are some of the participant’s comments.
“I would gladly come back next year because this camp was a very fun experience. I would recommend this to my team mates because I had a great time.”
“It was a really fun experience and I met so many new people.”
“Everyone is so nice! Perfect camp.”
The only thing is that the participants would have liked the camp to last…longer!
We warmly thank the financial contribution of Sport Canada without whom this camp would not have taken place as well as the entire team of coaches and management. We also thank the Chops club of Quebec for welcoming us into its venue.