‘We have a whole community of cup stackers. There are some people who do this on Long Island, but it’s mainly all over the world.’

Merrick

“Cup stacking is where you stack specially designed cups in certain sequences as fast as you can. I was inspired to start cup stacking by just seeing videos on social media. It just seemed very different from other hobbies. It seemed unique.

“I started just getting random plastic cups out of the closet, and just started stacking them randomly without even knowing what I was doing at the time.

“A couple years later, when I started realizing I was going pretty fast, it just kind of clicked where I could do this competitively — and right now, I am in the top 500 in the world.

“I would say this is absolutely an art form. We have a whole community of cup stackers. There are some people who do this on Long Island, but it’s mainly all over the world.

“I am also on Team USA for cup stacking. When I became a member, it felt like a huge, exciting thing for me. I felt really honored because just a select handful are a part of this team. It felt really good.

“I think going to California for a stacking tournament was really the biggest moment of my life currently. Oceanside, California, is where cup stacking was invented, back in the ’80s. And basically, I went to the place where it all began.

“My ultimate goal for cup stacking is to go to the world championships in Korea this year. I have been fundraising and hope to make enough money by October.

“Cup stacking isn’t always fun, and no one can be perfect at it. You will have mess-ups, and sometimes it is not just a good day for stacking, and you don’t want to overdo it.

“You don’t want to get frustrated doing one sequence repeatedly and then getting really mad about it. I mean, sometimes when you get a record speed, it’s absolutely that feeling of relief. But sometimes it’s just not one of those days. And that’s OK.”