Stacking game grows with home-schoolers

Speed is the game for Scottsdale sport stacker Charla Hallet. The 11-year-old home-schooled student showcased her quick hands Thursday as she stacked plastic cups into tight formations and then broke them down again with razor-sharp coordination.

VIDEO: Sports stackers from Scottsdale show off their fast hands

All around her, teammates from her sport stacking club raced against the clock as they set up and collapsed similar formations.

“It’s very challenging, but it’s so much fun at the same time,” Charla said. “I practice all the time, and I have a lot of friends who speed stack. It’s becoming very popular.”

The sport, which originated in the early 1980s in Southern California, involves individuals and relay teams who stack and then break down 12 specially designed plastic cups in predetermined sequences on a mat optimized for the proper amount of grip and friction.

The game’s aim is to stack the cups as fast as possible.

“I first saw speed stacking being demonstrated at a home-schooling convention about five months ago, and I have been stacking ever since,” said Wesley Lewis, a 12-year-old sport stacker who practices with Charla. “I’ll be doing this for a long time and I hope to compete as I get better.”

Jocelyn Horton, a Scottsdale parent who teaches her children at home, said sport stacking has become a favorite activity among Valley home-schooled students. She organized the home-schooled team that meets twice a month in Paradise Valley after she saw a demonstration during a church activity.

“Speed stacking is great for increasing hand strength and mental development as it requires a person to use both sides of the brain for agility and coordination,” Horton said. “You don’t have to be very athletic. Anybody can do it.”

Horton said she started organizing club meetings about a year ago. She said she hopes meetings will expand to more Valley locations.

With the exception of purchasing equipment such as cups and mats, Horton said there are no fees for participating.

“There’s nothing difficult about the process of getting involved,” Horton said.

Happily Educating Our Own, an online network that connects Christian home-schooling families in Arizona, has become a primary tool for linking sport stacking enthusiasts. Its purpose is to enable parents to stay informed about the numerous clubs and activities available for home-schooled children.

The network “is a fabulous resource where parents get to know what’s going on in the Valley,” said Diane Hallet, Charla’s mother. “It helps get rid of that isolated feeling that home-schooled kids can have as they develop new friendships.”

More online

• Cup stackers at Scottsdale’s Cherokee Elementary School will join more than 154,000 others on Thursday during the Guinness World Records Day. The event, organized by the World Sport Stacking Association, will include stackers from 10 countries and more than 1,000 schools and clubs. The goal is to break the record of 81,252 people stacking cups in a single day. For more information, visit

http://worldsportstackingassociation.org.

• For more information about cup stacking for home-schooled students, visit www.happilyeducatingourown.org/speed_stacking.htm