VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Matthew Hill of Virginia Beach is so fast with his hands when it comes to stacking cups. It's known as sport stacking. In fact, he's gearing up to judge the World Sport Stacking Championships in Orlando, Florida, next month.
The 25-year-old first gave it a try at six years old.
"My brother came home from school and brought home a couple sets from his P.E. class... I looked at it, and I was thoroughly amazed," said Hill. "I competed in my first competition in March 2010."
He's competed for 13 years, internationally in some cases. Now, he's gearing up to serve as a judge in the World Sport Stacking Championship.
"Being at the World Championship is like being at the Superbowl," he told me.
It's a role he takes very seriously.
"As a judge, I'm watching to see if the stacking sequence is followed correctly," Hill assured.
For example, there are certain formats that must be followed.
"An up-stack is basically stacking up a pyramid," he said.
There is also down-stacking, using a certain format.
"If a stacker stacks in one direction, they cannot down-stack the other direction. Otherwise, that would be a scratch," Hill said. "Meaning whatever time they get is invalid."
They have fumbles: when a cup is knocked over or not resting properly in a stack.
Matthew says beside the competition, there are a lot of benefits.
"So the great thing about sport stacking is that it activates both sides of the brain 3820 by about 20 to 30%," Hill said. "It improves hand-eye coordination, ambidexterity, speed and concentration."
"I wasn't really growing out of my shell at the time I was younger," Hill said.
He says sport stacking really changed that.
He even tried to teach me, which was a disaster. To see what happened, check out the video in this story.
