Austintown Intermediate School third grader Robert Marinelli practices cup stacking after school Thursday in anticipation of participating in a staking tournament Saturday at the school. Marinelli said he wanted to try cup stacking because he has only three fingers on his left hand, and he wanted to know if cup staking is what he's made for.

AUSTINTOWN — Though not every kid can stack up when it comes every athletic feat, cup stacking — or sport stacking — is something anyone can do.

“You do not have to be a super athlete. Anyone can participate at any age level, 5 years old to 75 years old,” said Tim Pappagallo, Austintown Intermediate School assistant principal, who introduced the sport to the school.

For Austintown Intermediate third-grader Robert Marinelli, cup stacking is about finding a the sport that fits him.

“I like cup stacking because I have three finger,s and I wanted to try it to find out if this is what I was made for,” said Marinelli.

Marinelli pointed to one-handed NFL player Shaquem Griffin as someone who succeeded in sports despite having a physical obstacle to overcome. Likewise, Marinelli doesn’t let having three fingers on his right hand slow him down.

The sport involves stacking cups in pyramids and collapsing them as fast as possible. There are different standard patterns of stacking, which are often completed in a rotating order for “cycles.”

Marinelli said he has no problem remembering the patterns for the cycles, which involve pyramids of three, six, or 10.

Austintown

Intermediate started its stacking team, Falcon Stackers, last year after Pappagallo introduced gym teacher Jason Stroh. Stroh had students participate in Stack Up Day — a day where schools around the country stack cups.

“They try to break the world record each year. The kids enjoyed it so much that I started up an after-school program. It was very informal, but the number of students who stayed grew,” said Pappagallo. This year, Falcon Stackers was made official with about 40 students participating in grades three to five.

“The children are very encouraging to one another and are always striving to beat their personal best,” said Pappagallo.

Austintown Intermediate fifth-grader Khloey Foley said that the sport is also calming, helping her to worry less about tests and everyday stresses.

“It’s a way to get my mind off different things,” said Foley.

Today, Austintown Intermediate is hosting a Speed Stacking tournament starting at 9 a.m. Forty-six stackers are expected to compete, with members of teams from North Ridge Elementary in Columbus, Beachwood Elementary, Team Ohio, Team Pennsylvania, Team Indiana and Kentucky traveling to Austintown for the tournament, which is sanctioned and acts as a qualifier for the Junior Olympics games.

Stackers will compete in three individual events — the three-three-three stack, three-six-three stack, and cycle — and team relay, doubles, and child-parent stacking events, said Pappagallo.

The event is open to the public and is expected to go until around 4 p.m.

Cup stacking as a sport is governed by the World Sports Stacking Association, which was formed in 2001 as the World Cup Stacking Association. The name was changed in 2005 when stacking began to become popular as a school-based sport, according to the World Sports Stacking website.

Cup stacking is part of more than 47,000 school and club programs in 54 countries worldwide.

avugrincic@tribtoday.com