Thorsten Gohl, the executive director of Table Tennis North, is hoping to bring next year's Canadian senior championships in the sport to Hay River.
That would be its first time ever in the NWT.
"I think that we hosted a great Arctic Winter Games and I think we need to keep that legacy going," said Gohl, who was the marketing manager for the South Slave Arctic Winter Games, held in March.
The proponent – himself a national-calibre table tennis player – believes a small community like Hay River can host the national championships.
"I think table tennis is easy enough to actually run and execute in a community like Hay River," he said. "We have the support there. We have the volunteer power there. We have amazing people in the territories that can help and support it. And I think just showcasing to the world that a small community like Hay River can actually do this, I think that's an amazing thing to showcase."
Right now, Gohl is waiting for the bidding document for the 2019 championships to be issued by Table Tennis Canada, but he has already starting planning with an old bidding document.
His idea is for Hay River to host next year's senior championships for men and women, and he will be applying on behalf of Table Tennis North.
"Looking around, we could host it in Yellowknife," he said. "The facilities would be available, but also we have now this beautiful recreation centre in Hay River and it would fit all of the requirements of being able to host a Canadian championships or a national event like this."
The competition would be on the floor of the hockey arena and the training tables in the curling rink.
There would be open singles and doubles events for men and women – meaning for any age – along with competitions in age categories.
Gohl expects the competition would attract between 120 and 180 players from across Canada.
At this point, the possible dates for the championships are unknown.
Gohl presented his idea to the Rec Board on June 19.
Mayor Brad Mapes was at that meeting and heard Gohl's presentation.
"We just went with the Arctic Winter Games and getting another national event to our community would be great," said the mayor. "Our town is open to any kind of ideas."
Mapes said the only issue appears to be the timing of the event.
"He wasn't a hundred per cent sure on the timing, but he did mention the latter part of March and that would mean shutting down the arena earlier and that's something that has to be discussed more with the community groups to see if it could be accommodated," said Mapes.
Gohl is confident that by next year there will be an NWT team ready to play at the national championships.
For this year's championships from July 6 to July 8 in Burnaby, B.C., the NWT team consists of just him.
"For each Canadian championship, each province and territory can bring four players per territory or province," he said. "So I will be going as Team NT for the open men's tournament."
His participation in this year's and last year's national championships is important for a bid to host the event in Hay River.
"You need to be part of the Canadian championships to host the Canadian championships," he explained.
Last year, Gohl won a match to make it to the round of 16, which is also his goal this year.
His participation in the national championships last year was the first time that the NWT was represented in several decades.
Gohl said hosting the national table tennis championships would mean a lot to promote the sport in the NWT.
"It would be huge, I think," he said. "I mean I talked to some of the kids that participated in the Arctic Winter Games and you could see their eyes glowing and getting bigger."
Gohl is hopeful that his strategy will be successful in getting the table tennis championships to Hay River.