HEREABOUTS pamela dillon
Plastic cups aren’t just for drinking anymore. Although it does take some hand-eye coordination not to spill your drink, it takes a great deal more to stack and restack several cups in a race against the clock. This new craze, called speed stacking or sport stacking, is measured in seconds, not minutes. There’s a sport stacking whiz from Springboro, Minds in Motion fifth-grade student Dominick Ritucci.
He is stacking up wins in the event that requires focusing on forming pyramids with cups and then dismantling them. This past January, he participated in the Upper Atlantic Regional Sport Stacking Championships in Rochester, N.Y. This tournament drew stackers from all over the country including Team USA and Team Canada. Ritucci placed first in his age division for the 3-3-3 stack, 3-6-3 stack, and the cycle stack.
In the ‘‘Stack of Champions’’ round, he placed second. The first place stacker tied the world record at that time for 5.93 seconds for the cycle stack. Ritucci’s second-place finish at 6.59 impressed the Team USA coaches, and he was asked to join them on Feb. 17. He will represent our country at the World Sport Stacking Championship on April 16-17.
“Speed stacking is fun and I really like that I get to meet friends from all over the world,” said Ritucci, who will turn 11 on March 13. “I practice every day and I even go on the computer and hold video stack competitions with my friends from Chicago all the way to Israel.”
Invented by Wayne Godinet, sport stacking received national attention in 1990 on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. An elementary teacher in Colorado, Bob Fox, formed the World Sport Stacking Association to make it a true sport with standard rules and regulations. Ritucci took up the sport early in 2010.
“I brought the sport of speed stacking to The Academy two years ago to introduce something fun and new that provides lots of benefits,” said physical education teacher Meredyth Moore. “It is also great for competition. We offer students the opportunity to try and improve their skills in our EXTRA classes, After School Enrichment Class and during physical education time.”
Ritucci was planning to compete in the WSSA Great Lakes Regional Tournament last Saturday in Peoria, Ill. Other tournaments include the Hoosier Sport Stacking Championship at Expo Hall in Connersville, Indiana on March 12, the World Championship in Dallas, and a tournament sponsored by Minds in Motion and Lebanon Schools on May 7.
“He’s very poised under pressure; we are so proud of him. He’s worked very hard to come this far in such a short amount of time,” said Danielle Ritucci, Dominick’s mom. “The speed stacking community is so supportive. They cheer and get excited when another stacker beats a record.”
Opening ceremonies for the Hoosier tournament this Saturday will begin at 10 a.m. For more information, call the St. Gabriel School at (765) 825-7951. To see Ritucci in action, visit YouTube and search his online name, speedstackingmaster1.
Contact this columnist at (937) 748-3487 or PamDillon@woh.rr.com.