Change Maker Samson Dubina

On a recent one-hour break between teaching table tennis lessons at his home, Samson Dubina power walked his Ellet neighborhood while talking on the phone.

The 2008 U.S. Nationals Mixed Doubles table tennis champ is used to long and active days. To stay sharp, the 35-year-old father of six jogs daily — sometimes pushing a triple jogging stroller filled with half his brood — does pushups and jumping lunges, and practices with a machine that pitches pingpong balls.

“Fifty-pound dumbbells [are] not what I need for table tennis,” Dubina says. “I need to be able to get my whole body in sync.”

While the physicality of the sport at high levels may surprise basement aficionados of pingpong — athletes burn up to 700 calories an hour, and balls in competitions can travel up to 70 mph — the real game is a mental one.

“The only way to win a point is if your opponent misses,” he says. “So you’re thinking: How can I place the ball with the right speed, spin, height and depth to be able to mess the other guy up?”

While he hasn’t made the Olympic team, he has competed in almost 400 global tournaments, at one time ranking third in the U.S. in 2016.

Now the Canton native is pouring his energy into two passion projects: opening the first official Nittaku-branded table tennis academy in the U.S. in Akron May 2 and coaching Jackson Middle School student and 13-year-old Olympic hopeful Sarah Jalli, who currently ranks No. 1 in the U.S. in her age group.

Dubina’s entrepreneurial spirit was born when he started the Samson Cycles bike shop in his garage at age 11 as part of a home-school project and sold about 100 bikes a year for the 10 years it was open. He brings that same drive and energy to his academy, which he hopes will spark local interest in the underrepresented sport.

It already has in his house. Three of his kids are in the game: His 6-year-old is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. for her age group, and his 8-year-old is ranked No. 3. “All my kids enjoy playing. I’m not going to push them crazy hard,” he says. “But I do want to create the right environment that, if they want to go to the Olympics — that’s a possibility.”