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Stack, stack, stack. Clop, clop, clop. Over and over again.

Chris, 14, was in the zone Wednesday, stacking like mad, oblivious to the sound of bouncing basketballs and chatter echoing off the walls of the Potter's House School gym.

Welcome to the ambidextrous world of sport stacking. That's right, stacking specially engineered plastic cups with holes in the bottoms is picking up speed in West Michigan, with gym teachers at several schools introducing the sport in class.

Naysayers may jeer, but proponents of the activity maintain stacking improves coordination, concentration and bilateral brain function.

"At first, I thought (stacking) was really weird, like, why would people want to stack cups in a tower?" said Bekah Blasen, 13, Chris's eighth-grade classmate. "But then I tried it and, like, couldn't stop doing it."

This is typical, according to Bob Fox, the founder of Colorado-based Speed Stacks Inc. The former physical education teacher and professional juggler started the company in 1998, eight years after he saw cup stacking on an episode of "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

"It was upside-down juggling," Fox said, recalling his immediate attraction to the activity.

The object of stacking is to complete a series of stacks as fast as possible without fumbling any of the 12 cups.

Fox manufactured stacking cups and made the rounds of physical education conventions across the country. The cups were a hit, and Fox quit his teaching job in 2000 to promoting stacking full-time. The sport officially was renamed "sport stacking" about a year ago.

Stacking skeptics may question the benefits of manipulating cups while racing the clock, but Fox says there are many.

"We don't use it as a pacifier for kids that are obese," he said. "But what's neat about it is that it levels the playing field for kids."

Meanwhile, it's proven to increase ball-handling skills and coordination among athletes like Fox's daughter, Emily Fox, who holds the world record for sport stacking and also is a star basketball player.

The national stacking craze has proved to be a windfall for Fox, who sells the only cups approved for regulation play. He sells them online in more than a dozen colors, as well as glow-in-the-dark and metal weighted varieties. Stackers also can buy apparel, stacking mats, timers and novelty mini stacking cups.

The "Speed Stacks" cups are difficult to find locally. Teachers refer parents to Mackinaw Kites and Toys in Grand Haven, where the 12-cup sets retail for $18.99. Fox said the cups will be readily available this fall when he launches sales at stores including Wal-Mart, Target and Sports Authority.

Sport stacking has been featured on late-night TV, daytime talk shows and ESPN. building recognition for the sport.

At Forest Hills Pine Ridge Elementary School, gym teacher Marty Keller combines stacking with aerobic activity -- for example, having students stop to stack during relay races.

"The response has been fantastic," he said. "The kids absolutely love it."

At Missaukee County's McBain Rural Agricultural School, students can be spotted in the halls with mesh bags containing stacking cups clipped to their belt loops. There, 105 students signed up for an after-school stacking club.

At Potter's House, Chris, Bekah and classmate Deb Finnegan, 14, have been practicing before school starts. Chris is the fastest stacker at his school. He can complete a complex "cycle" stack sequence in 9.02 seconds. The world record is 7.43 seconds.

All three plan to compete at a March 18 tournament in McBain.

Potter's House physical education teacher Joyce Zwiers said she introduces all her students to stacking, but not everyone has gotten caught up in the craze.

"Sometimes they chuck balls at us just to be funny," Finnegan said, explaining that stackers are sometimes misunderstood by non-enthusiasts armed with basketballs.

A convert herself, Bekah said: "I don't think you should judge it before you try it."

www.speedstacks.com

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