'He just absolutely wiped the floor with me': Meet Fort Simpson's ping-pong playing priest

Father Macleen Anyanwu of the Church of the Sacred Heart says it's difficult to find a table tennis partner in Fort Simpson, N.W.T.

Probably because he's too good. 

"He just absolutely wiped the floor with me, no Christian compassion at all," said Jim Williams with a laugh.

Williams played table tennis, or ping-pong, against the Catholic priest on about three occasions, with his best showing coming out of a 21-5 loss.  

"I used to play a lot of table tennis, but that was years ago, and my hand-eye coordination is terrible, so it's hard to know how much of it is him, and how much of it is me," he said. "I think it's a bit of both." 

Anyanwu said the sport has been a lifelong passion. 

"I've been playing ping-pong since my youth, when I was in high school," he said. "It's been my best hobby, apart from soccer."

Anyanwu makes it clear: he's not a professional, though he admits he has won some tournaments in his time. 

Williams said the two don't play together anymore — he felt he couldn't provide enough competition — but the experience did bring the them closer together. 

"We've become really good friends. We'll go out for lunch after mass on Sunday," he said. "He's a wonderful guy and I'm really pleased to have him as a friend." 

The sport of the North

Thorsten Gohl is the executive director of Table Tennis North, a territorial organization with a focus on developing the sport in communities. 

He said there's countless benefits to the sport, including the fact it doesn't require a whole lot of equipment. 

"With table tennis, I call it the sport of the North," he said. "What you really need is a ball."

Table Tennis North started about six years ago and is headquartered in Fort Providence, N.W.T., Gohl's home.

Gohl spoke with CBC News from Inuvik, where he and Arctic Winter Games Coach Steve Rowe were running some events.

The two have been on a journey to communities across the territory, bringing people of all ages out to play games. They've also been running coaching certification clinics, which help develop partnerships for future events. 

Community partners

Gohl said these partnerships are a big part of the trips.

The pair have already traveled through the Dehcho and Sahtu regions. After Inuvik, they will head to Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson and Ulukhaktok. 

Gohl said they bring some small portable tables and clip on nets, which they will leave in communities that don't already have a table. 

The pair were in Fort Simpson in early March, thanks to some co-ordination with community partner Beth Hudson, who also took advantage of the opportunity to get her intermediate coaching certificate. 

"Just really, really cool that they're even providing that opportunity, because it's not easy to get a coaching certification in the North actually," she said. 

"They just made it happen for me on the spot."

Hudson said part of how she even got the idea of hosting Table Tennis North in Fort Simpson came from a conversation with Anyanwu. She said the two discussed the idea of having a club or recreational table tennis events in the community. 

"I just remember his eyes lighting up in that moment 'like I love table tennis,'" she said.

"I love hearing things that people might want, or might want to try, because if I can encourage them to do it, if they know they have support, sometimes they're like willing to do it."

For Hudson, she said she's heard of Anyanwu's legendary skills with a paddle, but hasn't yet seen them in action. 

"I haven't [played him] yet, but I would love to, just for fun," she said.