Dr. Greg Thomas honoured to be part of table tennis rich history

Dr. Greg Thomas has certainly had one of the most fascinating life journeys since he was an Australian National Team representative in the early Eighties. 

Now a Professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, Thomas was recently recognised by the TTA Official Australian Representatives Project, which honours all individuals who have represented Australia at senior level.

“Life has sure been interesting,” Thomas admitted. Before moving to work at the University of Alberta in 2007, he had spent eight years in Hong Kong, where he was the Head of the Department of Mathematics, Science, Social Science and Technology at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. During his career, he has also had stints as a visiting professor at universities in Denmark, Thailand, China and South Africa.

“If someone had told me back in 1976 that in 2021, 45 years later, I would be living in Canada and doing what I am doing, I would've told them they were crazy. Fortunately, I have been able to travel to many countries to work with and teach others about metacognition, and that has been a great benefit of my work,” he said.

Metacognition refers to a person's knowledge, control, and awareness of their thinking and learning processes. It has been Thomas’ main interest in education since 1985 and he continues to do research and teaching in that field, especially in science education. He even has a podcast on the subject, trying to provide educators with ideas to help students of all levels to become better learners.

With such a busy professional life, Thomas’ relationship with table tennis has been sporadic over the years. Since arriving in Canada he kept playing socially, but still managed to win the Canadian Over 50 Singles title in 2014. He is a member of the Edmonton Table Tennis Club.

Like many, his passion for the sport started on the kitchen table, playing against his mother in Townsville, in the early seventies. Thomas was a gifted young athlete and loved sport, achieving good results in cricket, athletics, soccer and, of course, table tennis, which he started playing competitively when he was about 14.

“I think it's fair to say that I was too much into sport at high school. I missed quite a bit of school with sports and daydreamed about it most of the rest of the time. Hence, when I didn't get into the physical education program I wanted to in 1976, I decided to give table tennis a good shot, and see where it went.”

Thomas said the Townsville Table Tennis Association was, and still is, a great place to learn about and play the sport. 

“The club scene was great. There were actually four nights of competition, from Tuesday to Friday, for various standards of play and to accommodate the large number of club members. On Monday nights we helped with bingo to raise money for the club and to cover our tournament and travel expenses. Competitions would be packed, there were 10 tables, each with six players. It was also a great social event.

“Back then, the tournament play that took place in every major city in Queensland at least once during the year was also an amazing opportunity for people to travel, play, and socialise. They were great events, remembered fondly by many, and I still have friends from those days,” he said.

Thomas’ fondest memory of those years relates to his 11th-hour selection to his first Senior team, the Victorian Men’s team for the 1979 Australian Championships, held in Adelaide. After narrowly missing out on the original selection, a disappointed Thomas decided to travel to Adelaide anyway, to play in the singles. The night before the team events were due to start, one of the four players on the Victorian team, Garry Munday, fell ill and Thomas was invited to join the team by legendary coach Karol Javor. 

“I was gobsmacked,” Thomas said. “Being a member of ANY Victorian team in the 1970s was a great honour.” For Thomas, it was a case of being at the right place at the right time. “I have forever been grateful to the Table Tennis Victoria team officials, Karol and the rest of that team for that opportunity.”

Thomas won that National Team title in 1979, a success he was able to repeat two years later, this time with the NSW team. In 1981 he also went on to achieve a #4 national ranking, the highest of his career, and would later don the green and gold to represent Australia at the 1982 Commonwealth Championships.

“The Table Tennis Australia Official Australian Representatives project came as a surprise to me and I was both honoured and humbled to be recognised for my playing history,” Thomas said.

“It is a great initiative, as the history of our sport is important and we have a rich tradition of great people contributing to our great sport.”