A group of students from Fort Good Hope's Chief T'Selehye School got a pleasant surprise at the recent NWT Table Tennis School Championship in Yellowknife. While they didn't win the middle school championship outright, they were awarded a special "aggregate" title by the tournament's organizers, with a banner to match.

"[Tournament organizer Andrew Gilmour] decided to give us a banner too, as the aggregate team champions, because out of our five middle school players, four of them made the top three in their divisions," said the team's coach, Jesse Snow, who has been working at the school since 2021. "[The students] were surprised... I think they were really proud of themselves because they didn't expect it. They did get their medals before that, but this was kind of the icing on the cake."

The tournament ran from Jan. 10-11 at Yellowknife's Weledeh School gymnasium. Snow brought seven students down to the capital: middle schoolers Nevaeh Jackson, Amy Tobac, Rosetta Gully, Madeline Jackson and Odessa Edgi, as well as high school students Isibelle Manuel and Vital Yehtsa, who helped him coach. 

Nevaeh Jackson won first place among the Grade 7 players while Gully and Tobac placed second and third, respectively, in the same division. Madeline Jackson won gold in the Grade 6 division. Edgi, who is brand new to the sport and played against older students, did not place in the top three at her first tournament, but put forth an impressive effort, according to Snow SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” which is part of what made the team's unexpected banner win so special. 

"Odessa, she didn't get any medals this time, but she just started playing with us a couple months ago and I wasn't even sure that she was going to go on the trip with us at first, but she really wanted to," Snow said. "She was still learning the basics, and she came to every practice. She even practised during break times that weren't official practices.

"She came a long way," he added. "I'm really proud of her, and when we got the banner, she was able to be a part of that, which is really cool."

The tournament featured some "neck and neck" matches, according to Snow. Some of those ended the way the Fort Good Hope players wanted, others ended in disappointment, but even the losses were "learning experiences," said the coach.

"I've seen a lot of improvement, even the players that were already, in my opinion, really good," he said. "Some of them are better at table tennis than I am."

The excitement of the tournament didn't subside when the players made the trip back to Fort Good Hope. Since arriving home, they've been taking turns signing their new banner. Once everyone has had a chance to add their names, it will be hung in the school's gym. 

It will the the first table tennis banner to be raised into the rafters. 

"We've got a bunch of basketball banners SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” this school has a really strong basketball program," Snow said. "This will be the first table tennis banner. It's a little bit of history.

"[The students] will be really proud to have their banner up, with their names next to all the others that we have," he added. "I'm extremely proud of them too.

"We're going to have a pep rally here at school to announce to the whole school formally in front of everyone, and show them the team and the banner and just congratulate them and let the whole school cheer for them. I think it gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment and also motivates them to keep practising and be even more prepared for next year's tournament."