On November 26th, the “Ping Pong for All_ Autistic Day” event was held at the Joshua Creek Arena. Nearly ten autistic children, their families, and volunteers from all over the city participated in the event. The event was jointly organized by the Oakville Community Table Tennis Association (OCTTA) and the Northern Cross Autistic Children Charity Foundation (NCACF), and was sponsored by CTS Auto. The event is under OCTTA’s signature community development program _ Ping Pong for All, which targets the most vulnerable community groups, such as youth autism. The event aimed to provide it’s targeted group members and their families a wider access to sport under a controllable and non-judgmental environment, as well as, spread table tennis culture. Under the help of volunteers and supervision of the professional coaches, participants learned the basic skills of table tennis and were accompanied by a team of volunteers throughout the whole process for a fun experience.
Oakville Town and Region councilor Tom Adams (Ward 6), Town councilor Natalia Lishchyna (Ward 6), Town and Region councilor Nav Nanda (ward 7), and Town councilor Scott Xie (Ward 7) attended the event as special guests. Each councilor had discussion with OCTTA and NCACF representatives to understand the needs and benefits of the events and had conversations and discussions with participant and their families about their experiences. Together with the event sponsor CTS Auto, the councilors presented commemorative medals to all participants and volunteers to thanks for their effort and contributions to the event.
OCTTA is a newly formed non-profit organization co-founded by Oakville residents who are passionate about table tennis and community development. OCTTA is determined to promote the growth of table tennis in Canada by providing a platform for young athletes and by serving the local community. In addition to providing professional table tennis training programs, OCTTA also hosts various table-tennis activities contributing to local community development, including the signature “ Ping Pong for All” program, which targets the most vulnerable community groups, Including older adult and seniors; minority community members and newcomers; special needs group (Alzheimer & Autism), as well as disable groups. Not only can table tennis fans who participate in OCTTA’s activities get professional table tennis guidance and training, they also have many opportunities to participate in charity and community care.
This is the second time that OCTTA partnered with NCACF and run the “Ping Pong for All_ Autism Day“. NCACF is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping youth autism groups and their families. NCACF have been collaborating with many non-for-profit organizations to provide opportunity for youth autism groups to access various sports and activities.
It is worth mentioning that OCTTA volunteers for this event included professional athletes from the national team. To better serve the autistic children who participated in the event, the volunteer team diligently organized internal training before the event.
