Summary of GE-EDI Committee Activities for 2024-25

• Our committee is chaired by Julia Charbonneau and composed of the following members: Thorsten Gohl, Board Representative; Joyce Xu of Ontario, Athlete Representative; Phuong Ngyuen of Manitoba; Jeremy Lehr of Newfoundland and Labrador; Amelia Ho of British Columbia; Emilia Cabrera of Quebec; and Karine Dumontier, GE-EDI Program Manager.

• The members met three times to decide activities to prioritize, within the Sport Canada funding which ended on March 31, 2025. The committee unanimously agreed on two main projects, including a national training camp for girls and the continuation of the mentorship program for female coaches. You will find the details at the following links:

– 2025 Girls National Training Camp (July 2025)

– TTCAN Coach Mentorship (Year-Round)

– CAC Mentorship Program (Starting January 2025)

– “Women in Table Tennis” Campaign Presentation at the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership sportif Annual Conference, Regina (November 2024)

– Presentation at the Sport for Life Summit: EDI Committee Initiatives (January 2025)

– Women in Table Tennis Campaign (Monthly Publications)

– Collaboration on 4 TTCAN Professional Development presentations related to GE-EDI (November 5, 2024, March 12, May 7 and June 4, 2025)

– Wednesdays Publication (website) related to GE-EDI (Weekly, Year-Round)

• Much energy has been put into implementing the Women Coach Mentorship Program this year. As a reminder, this program supports six women coaches in their training and learning journey. We warmly thank Mariann Domonkos for her commitment and dedication to this ambitious program. The goal of this program is to recruit, create, and guide a pool of certified and qualified coaches who will be able to coach athletes in future national competitions, including the 2027 Canada Games and other international competitions, for many years to come.

• Two in-person activities brought these coaches together during the year. The first was in January in Ottawa for two and a half days, led by Mariann Domonkos. Another activity took place during the national girl’s training camp in Richmond, where our coaching team led the group of young athletes for four days under the supervision of Mariann (in preparation) and Marles Martins (on-site). In addition, monthly virtual meetings were held with mentor Mariann, the program manager, and Thorsten Gohl, providing support.

• Table Tennis Canada was also selected by the CAC, along with 15 other National Sport Organizations (NSOs), for another mentoring project (WAGE), which is in addition to the one already launched internally. This project involves Thorsten Gohl as a sports leader and Karine Dumontier as a logistics manager. Two pairs were formed for this program: Thierry Verviers as mentor to Maria Bagirova (QC) and Maxime Suprenant (QC) as mentor to Rose Huang (BC). Thanks to this program, Thierry was able to be present and support Maria during the Canadian Championships, and Rose was able to follow Maxime in his head coaching activities in Quebec for a week in the spring of 2025. The project is progressing very well thanks to the dedication of everyone involved.

• June and July saw the finalization of the preparations and the implementation of the girls’ national training camp in Richmond, which was held from July 24 to 27, immediately following the Canadian Junior Championships. The national camp was a success, bringing together 19 players from eight provinces and the Northwest Territories! The four-day camp included table tennis practices and outdoor activities at the magnificent Richmond Olympic Oval.

• The “Women in Table Tennis” campaign, a project carried out in collaboration with members of the Athletes’ Commission, aimed at highlighting the players, coaches, officials, and administrators of our table tennis community to give them greater visibility and deserved recognition. This project was presented by Emilia Cabrera Mallette and Karine Dumontier at the Petro-Canada Sport Leadership sportif Annual Conference in November 2024 in Regina.

• Other activities of the EDI committee include webinars organized in collaboration with the Coaching Development Committee and the sharing of information on the national organization’s social media channels.

• All the committee’s initiatives were presented at the 2025 Sport for Life Summit in Gatineau in January 2025 by Emilia Cabrera Mallette and Karine Dumontier.

• Follow, encourage, and participate in the various upcoming initiatives. All information is easily found on the TTCAN website and social media.

Respectfully submitted by

Karine Dumontier, Program Manager

On behalf of the Gender Equity & EDI Committee and its Chair