Pastor Jimmy Taylor was intrigued by a table sitting in the middle of the basement floor at the home he purchased 18 years ago in west Akron.
But he never imagined that it would become a tool for helping young people realize their dreams.
“My goal as a [table tennis] coach is to get kids involved in the sport and give them an opportunity to participate at a higher level, which can lead to a college scholarship,” Taylor said. “Although the sport is not as popular in the United States as in other parts of the world, it can be key in helping young people get money for college.”
This week, Taylor was among two dozen participants in an International Table Tennis Federation and Paralympic Table Tennis coaching course at the House of the Lord, where Taylor is pastor of buildings and grounds. Successful course completion certifies participants as a Level 1 coach, giving them the ability to coach in schools.
The 24–hour course, which ran Monday through Friday, was taught by Richard McAfee, one of eight level-three course conductors and trainers in the world and the only one in North America. McAfee has been playing table tennis for 51 years, starting when he was 13 years old. He has been coaching for over 30 years and was inducted into the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005.
The Aurora, Colo., resident also wrote a best–selling instructional book, Table Tennis: Steps to Success (Human Kinetics Publishers, 2009) and organized the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games table tennis events.
“I fell in love with the game early, played professionally in Europe and got more interested in coaching as I got older because I liked the fact that coaching is something that I can keep getting better at,” McAfee said. “The sport is extremely exciting. It’s technical and complex, with many intricacies like the physics of the ball. I think we’re getting close to a breakthrough in the United States because it’s becoming more of a cool sport with kids, We just need one great champion to come out of the U.S. and we will gain a lot of momentum.”
Table tennis, known mostly a recreational game called pingpong in the United States, has evolved over the years into what the International Olympic Committee says is the world’s largest participation sport, with 40 million professional players (and hundreds of millions of casual players). Half of the competitive players are from China, which dominates in competitive play.
But the game is growing in several countries, including the U.S., where the number of table tennis clubs is growing rapidly.
In fact, Samson Dubina, who has competed with the U.S. National Team and is ranked ninth in the U.S. and 600th in the world,, describes Akron as a “hot spot” for the sport in Ohio. The Canton native and Akron resident said course opportunities like the one at the local church help expand the sport’s reach.
“The more coaches we can get, the more kids we can get involved,” Dubina said. “This area has more coaching opportunities, more clubs and more tournaments than other areas in the state. The sport has a lot of depth. The ball can rotate 130 times per second. Like many sports, it’s highly competitive and it takes a lot of practice.”
Dubina, who operates the Samson Dubina Table Tennis Academy, is organizing the Newgy Akron Open Tournament in September at Walsh University. Newgy is the robot that he and others use for training and coaching.
For more information about the tournament, visit samsondubina.com. To find information about local clubs — including the Elder Johnson Family Life Center Table Tennis Club (330–864–9073), which meets 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the House of the Lord on Thursdays and Saturdays — and more about table tennis in the U.S., go to usatt.org.
“The sport has been equated to running the 100-yard dash and playing chess at the same time. The beauty of it is that it’s not limited to age. Anyone can play, from young children to seniors,” Taylor said. “There is a movement afront to get more young people involved and the certification that comes with this course will help put more coaches out there. We just need to reach more parents to let them know, there are college scholarships out there for table tennis players.”
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.