Greg Dzioba – Premier Table Tennis Official in Manitoba
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Greg Dzioba left Poland in 1987 and went to Rome, Italy for 1 year ... The next year he immigrated to Canada and settled in “friendly” Manitoba, where he has lived for the past 27 years. His interest in soccer and table tennis were apparent from the start.He coupled his sense of humour with his excellent athletic abilities to win the friendship and respect of his fellow athletes. His advancement in table tennis was through the pathway of an official.
In the early days, Greg was challenged with the acquisition of English as a second language and had difficulty with the nuiances of English which was more apparent in the written language. Greg’s first attmpt at the Club umpire exam was met with failure. He was determined to master the written word and pass this exam. He spent day after day translating the ITTF Rule Book from English to Polish. A few months passed and he wrote the exam again and his hard work had paid off; he passed with flying colors. In less than a year he acquired his Provincial level and had his eyes set on the National Exam which could only be written after a period of two years from his success with the Provincial level. Greg never looked back and as soon as the 2 years were completed he wrote the National Exam and began crossing the country from coast to coast gaining valuable experience along the way. In the early days, he umpired at almost every Nationals, Western Opens, Canada Games and many local events in Manitoba.
In 1998, Greg wrote the International Umpire Exam and passed again. He celebrated his new status by attending the US Open in Las Vegas. Together, Greg and Dr. Chandra Madhosingh were recognized by the organizing committee as outstanding officials and asked to do a medal match. Greg’s road to success started out a bit rocky but he was at the top of his game. Greg vowed to become one of the Blue Badge Umpires. Blue Badge Umpires are the best in the world. He set a goal and in 2004 he attended the Advanced Umpire Training course where he passed the exam at the end of the eight hour session. Greg was then selected to attend the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. He was also asked to umpire one of the gold medal matches.
Greg’s career has been filled with prestigious opportunities such as :
2006 World Championships in Bremen, Germany (Teams semi-final)
2007 World Junior Table Tennis Championships in Palo Alto, California (Boys Final)
2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China (Women’s Team semi-final)
2010 Coomonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland (Team Final)
2012 Paralympic Games in London, England as a racket controller
2015 Pan American Games in Toronto (Men’s Final)
plus several more in country and out of country events.
Greg has also been recognized by Blue Badge evaluators as an expert in his field. He has more than 30 evaluations at the highest level with a 100% record of “meets expectations”. His record has never been surpassed. Greg may be at the top of his game, but he has set new goals such as teaching others at the local , Provincial, National and International level.
Canada is proud to have recognized Greg Dzioba as the recipient of the Art Barren Award for most outstanding official in Canada (2015).
Congratulations to Canada’s Most Outstanding Official GREG DZIOBA
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