The thwack-thwack-thwack of dozens of plastic cups being stacked and unstacked resonated throughout the Edison Elementary School gymnasium this week as students tried to break a world record for the most people stacking cups at multiple locations.
The Edison students were not alone. Last year’s record was 746,698 people around the world during the three-day event, according to the World Sport Stacking Association website. This is the third year students in Lynne Ahrens’ physical education classes have competed in the event.
The goal is to stack plastic cups into pyramid shapes. The simple version is to stack nine cups into three separate pyramids of three cups each and then to unstack them. Oh, and you have to end with the stack of cups that you started with.
While Ja’hari Davis, 8, said it was not that hard to learn, Christian Bowman, 7, had a different take on the situation.
“It’s kinda hard,” Bowman said after practicing for two days. “The hard part is how you stack the cups and take them down.” This is Bowman’s first year to try the sport; Davis participated last year.
While Davis says he doesn’t have a technique, Bowman does.
“I work up speed by going slow and speeding up a lot. I start slow and then go faster,” Bowman said.
Ahrens said she introduces her students to the sport by having them watch a video, which breaks down exactly how to stack cups.
Some pointers include: Put your hands on the side of the cup, don’t grab the top of the club with a death grip, use both hands, and don’t slam the cup down.
The last one is easier said than done.
“As they get faster, they kinda do slam it down,” Aherns said. “They think by watching the video they have to go fast, fast, fast.”
While some of the students used timers to test themselves, the event is not timed. Ahrens said the only regulation is that each person must stack cups for 30 minutes to qualify to participate in the world record event. Using the timer gives them a competitive edge, Ahrens said.
Ahrens said stacking cups is for more than just fun.
“You have to use both hands; it’s making both sides of the brain work. It teaches right-handed and left-handed people how to use their opposite hands,” she said. “The coordination really comes from using both hands.”
She said she has seen the skill level of fourth and fifth graders, who have stacked cups for a couple of years, increase. She is now teaching the skill to kindergarteners.
While her students are excited to participate in trying to break a world record, she said they don’t quite grasp the concept of being one of hundreds of thousands of people doing the same activity
“They look at that number (746,698) and go, ‘Coach, we don’t have that many people,’” Ahrens said.
Ahrens said she would submit the number of students who actually participated in the cup stacking event at the end of the competition period. She estimated about 250 Edison students will compete. A few days after the competition ends, she should receive an email informing her of how many people participated and if Edison students did their part in setting a new world record.