| Norman Tang – Canada’s Most Accomplished Official
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Norman Tang was born in China, raised in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada more than 45 years ago. He is married to Wai-Shan and together they raised two wonderful children, Winnie and Nathan in Ottawa. Winnie and Nathan gravitated to the sport of table tennis and became premier players. This was Norm’s opportunity to get involved in a sport that he loved for a lifetime.
Since 1993, Norman worked local tournaments as an umpire and then a referee. He soon rose to the highest ranks in Ontario by passing the National Umpire Exam and the National Referee Exam. He was active provincially being the Eastern Ontario President for a number of years and later elected as VP Administration of OTTA, overseeing a most difficult transition period in Ontario. He was the recipient of the 2001 Betty Tweedy Award and in 2003 also received the Art Barran Trophy. After several years Norman took the plunge and embarked on a dedicated road to be the best in his chosen sport of table tennis. In 2002, he wrote and passed the International Umpire Exam which provided him opportunities for travel around the world. After a couple of International events in the USA, Norman was selected as Canada’s representative to the World Championships in Doha, Qatar (2004). He was also selected to the 2007 Pro Tour Finals in Hong Kong followed by the 2009 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
Norman’s dedication to the sport only grew over time. His contributions to the development of officials in Ontario and Canada became a priority. He partnered with Joe Fisher and revamped the Referee program. Between 2009 and 2015 they trained more than 75 people to be a referee at the local, provincial, regional or national level. Norman wrote his International Referee Exam in 2009 in Budapest, Hungary and passed with flying colors. As a result of his past experience nationally and with experience in the USA, he was invited to be the Deputy Referee at the Commonwealth Games in India in 2010 and the World Championships in 2011 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
As an umpire, Norman Tang had one more goal in his sights. It was to become recognized as a Blue Badge Umpire which is the highest designation awarded by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). In 2008, he attended the Advanced Umpire Training seminar, wrote the Advanced Rules Exam, passed the fluency test and completed 4 matches at the International level at a satisfactory or above level. He was awarded the new status. He became Canada’s representative at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia in 2010 and was selected to umpire the Women’s Team Final match. After this experience, Norman, as a Blue Badge Umpire was invited by the ITTF to the Olympics in London, England in 2012. This was a major highlight in his career especially when asked to be the umpire for the Women’s Team Final gold medal match.
Norman is a true professional and volunteer in the sport of table tennis. He currently serves as Chairman of Referees for Canada. Since 2013, Norman has also been a member of the URC for the ITTF. Not only is he a member but also the Chair for Umpires around the world. Canada is proud to highlight a truly dedicated and accomplished official.
Thank you for your service.
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