Aerobic table tennis mentor returns
World-class U.K. instructor Steve Rowe back in Fort Providence
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, February 9, 2017
DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
Since returning to the Northwest Territories, aerobic table tennis instructor Steve Rowe has braved temperatures of -50 C in Fort Resolution and broken down barriers with children in Hay River.
Pictured here overlooking Lady Evelyn Falls near Kakisa, Steve Rowe of aerobic table tennis fame is determined to get the sport grounded in the Northwest Territories. - photo courtesy of Thorsten Gohl
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Rowe is in the midst of a weeks-long visit to Canada's North, based out of Fort Providence, and with plans to travel to the Yukon soon in order to teach his specialty. He'll be in the Northwest Territories until March 20.
Aerobic table tennis is a workout Rowe specifically designed. It teaches table tennis movements to the beat of music.
Not only is it a workout, it's also an introduction to the table tennis sport itself.
"That's the whole idea, that (youth) would take up aerobic table tennis and would enjoy it because it's a fun and exciting session," Rowe explained.
"Then you get the odd kid who will say, 'I'd like to play table tennis properly,' and that's when you start helping them develop the table tennis skills."
Having had his first Northwest Territories experience in April, Rowe was invited back this year by Table Tennis North, which is making a push toward mainstreaming table tennis as a territorial sport.
He credits Table Tennis North's Thorsten Gohl, a familiar face in Fort Providence, with recognizing the potential of aerobic table tennis and creating a buzz for the sport.
Rowe got his start in table tennis at the age of 15 in Wigan, England. As a youth himself, he used to play table tennis at a youth centre in his hometown.
"No one would teach me how to play, which is a bit ironic considering now I'm a table tennis coach, so I went and practised by myself," Rowe said.
It wasn't as easy as it sounds - in order to be able to learn the necessary skills on his own, Rowe had to split a table in half and hit the ball against it.
"When I went back to the youth centre, the people who would not teach me, I was able to beat. That was a bit of satisfaction," he recalled.
After that, Rowe decided to take up the sport full-time, playing in the local league. Now, with 40 years under his belt, he runs his own program.
He developed aerobic table tennis in 2011 as a way to get young women more interested in the sport.
"Worldwide, we don't have many females playing the game of table tennis. I thought, well, girls like music much more than boys normally, so I devised a program to include table tennis movement along to the beat of the music," he said.
"However, as I went to different countries around the world, I realized boys wanted to join in, too."
That led to his development of a generic program that anyone can take part in.
Now, as he showcases that program to communities in the North - so far, he's been to Kakisa, Hay River and Fort Resolution - he is already seeing the impacts.
"The kids don't get many fun activities where they can keep fit at the same time. So for me, to use aerobic table tennis to help out those kids, it makes me very happy indeed," he said.
