Youth Compete In Cup Stacking For Chance To Enter Junior Olympics

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Kids from all over the West Coast were in Sacramento vying for a spot in the Junior Olympics for cup stacking.

You use them to drink, but kids are using cups for competitive stacking.

"It's a lot of work to practice," Tyler Hawkins said.

It also takes a lot of work to make it to the southwest region's sport stacking championships in Sacramento.

"It's really hard, but you almost have to block out the sound and focus on the cups," said Hawkins.

"This gives kids an outlet. Kids that don't play other sports, this is a sport for them," Stack It Sacramento founder Paula Cook said.

Like other sports, it takes skill, focus and hand-eye coordination.

"This is a track meet for your hands. You're not using your feet; you're using your hands. It's about speed quickness," said Tournament Director Lori Hawkins.

Beau McDowell, 13, started stacking three years ago.

"It was really addicting," he said.

Each contender gets two warm ups and three tries; and judges look at the best time.

"On 3-2-3, I got a 1.67; on 3-6-3, I got a 2.24," McDowell said.

He's not talking about minutes, but seconds.

"It's not regular, it's unusual and that's cool," he said.

"This is a huge competition and it means a lot to these kids, because it's their way in to bigger competitions," said Cook.

Those bigger competitions include the Junior Olympics or the world championships.

"Seeing the excitement on the kids' faces, it's just awesome," said Lori.

If you're thinking about giving it a try, you may want to think twice.

"It's not where you can just get cups and go with it," said Lori.

The world championships will be held in Orlando in April, followed by the Junior Olympics in Detroit this summer.