Chance
to excel -
The
Sampson Stallion Stackers are among the best in the world,
holding 30 state, 11 national and eight world records.
Physical
educators like that children can excel at sport stacking
even if they lack size and stature. "We have kids from all walks of life that compete on the same
level," French said. "I don't have that kind of success in any
of my other units."
Girls
who are violinists compete toe to toe with athletic boys.
Even kindergartners are stacking, developing "the whole child," as
it builds hand-eye coordination, flexibility, ambidexterity,
concentration and sportsmanship.
And French's students are anything but sedentary when the cups
come out. "Everything that we do, the kids are running around the room,
they're stacking, up stacking" and tearing them down during a
game called Builders and Bulldozers, French said. Relays also
get the children fired up. The cup craze has spread beyond the Sampson gym.
Speech
therapists are using it as a way to get children to talk
through the sequences of the task, and teachers use it as
an incentive to get their students to finish their work on
time. Some parents also have competed in sport stacking.
The
Southern Regional Championships -
Because competitive speed
stacking through tournaments is relatively new, Sampson parents
said their children have benefited from being on the ground
level of the movement, and they've watched it explode. The "instant gratification" of
the sport is what has drawn her students' interest, French
said. "They can be the best in the world at this right now, as an
8-year-old, as a 9-year-old, and that's very appealing to kids," French
said. |
