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Click. Clunk.

Click, click, click, click. Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk. Boink, boink.

Students inside the gym are practicing stacking the plastic cups as fast as they can. Their hands move so quickly, they're almost a blur, and the cups appear to rise and fall on their own in a series of pyramid formations.

Yes, they're stacking cups, but don't - please don't - call it cup stacking.

The correct name is sport stacking, said Betsy Allen, a physical-education teacher at Richland Elementary.

This week the Birdville district students are honing their skills for the 2006 Lone Star Sport Stacking Championships on Saturday at the Wiley G. Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City. The goal, of course, is to be the fastest sport stacker.

Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk. Ping!

"Who knows? It might be in the Olympics someday," Allen said. "It's kind of like a cross between juggling and yoga."

But it makes a lot more noise.

"When I'm in my room practicing and my brother's playing the radio, he tells me to stop," said Brock Redding, 7, a second-grader.

Haley Burgess, 8, a second-grader, likes to practice stacking cups in the kitchen while her mom is cooking.

"She tells me to quiet down," Burgess said.

Stacker gear is a set of specially made plastic cups with holes in the bottom to let the air out when they're being stacked up and down. Heavy, silver metal cups are used to help develop hand dexterity. For the die-hard sport stacker, there's a set of tiny hot-pink cups that can go anywhere.

It's almost obsessive.

"They will do this for hours," Allen said.

Clunk, click, clunk, click. Boink, boink.

Rhythm is just as important as dedication, said Danny Turner, head custodian at Richland Elementary.

To help his daughter, Shelby, 10, find her own pace, he bought her a metronome, a device that helps musicians keep time.

Turner also helped his daughter step up her speed by having her practice stacking the cups with her eyes closed.

But the Holiday Heights Elementary School student is out of the running for this year's tournament.

"She broke her arm Rollerblading," Turner said.

Some enthusiasts say that sport stacking improves their concentration. Others say it helps with hand-eye coordination.

But Michael Griggs, 11, a fifth-grader, could care less about the benefits.

"I do it for the glory," he said.

Click, click, click, click. Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk. Boink, boink.

IF YOU GO

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

Wiley G. Coliseum, 6108 Broadway Ave., Haltom City

Sport stacking lingo

Stacker: A participant in a sport-stacking competition or event.

Fumble: When cups fall. All fallen cups must be corrected.

Tipper: Cups that fall off a stack and onto the table or the floor.

Cycle stack: A pattern of formations using a 3-6-3 stack, a 6-6 stack or a 1-10-1 stack.

Motto: "We build only positive pyramids."

www.speedstacks.com

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