By Lynn R. Parks
Seaford & Laurel Star

At 10 o'clock Saturday morning, the Mid-Atlantic regional tournament in sport stacking got underway in the gym at Laurel High School. By 5 in the afternoon, organizers were presenting a trophy to Steven Purugganan, the 10-year-old Massachusetts boy who won all three individual events. Not only did Purugganan win in all events, he may have set world records in all events. "He is the fastest sport stacker on the planet," said Garrett Lydic, a physical education teacher at North Laurel Elementary School and the advisor for the Laurel Sport Stacking Bulldogs.

Purugganan will be among the competitors at April's world sport stacking championships, to be held in Denver. Lydic hopes that at least eight of the 110 children in the Bulldog sport stacking club will also be able to attend the championships.

One purpose of Saturday's tournament was to raise money for the trip, which Lydic said will cost between $500 and $600 per student. "We also wanted to promote the sport, and to give the children experience in competition," Lydic said. Sport stacking involves stacking plastic cups and then taking the stacks down, all in predetermined order.

Sport Stackers can compete individually and on two-man and four-man teams. Sport Stackers are ranked based on the time it takes them to complete and then dismantle the stack. They can be penalized for a variety of things, including putting the cups up or taking them down out of sequence.

"Sport Stacking is fun to do, and exciting to watch," Lydic said. It gives children who don't otherwise excel in sports a chance to succeed at something, he said, and improves hand-eye coordination. "I won't go so far as to say that stacking will make you smarter," Lydic added. "But it stimulates your brain. It helps to put your brain in better position to learn."

Saturday's was the first tournament that Laurel has hosted. About 260 people, from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, competed in 13 divisions, including adult divisions.

The tournament was sanctioned by the World Sport Stacking Association. Sponsor for the tournament was the Nemours Foundation. Lydic said that he is already looking forward to the next regional tournament hosted by Laurel. "The first year, this was a big undertaking," he said. "But we learned a lot about how to make the tournament better for next year." And he praised the volunteers, including parents, teachers and other district employees, who helped with the tournament. "People in Laurel are so awesome," he said. "Time and time again, everybody comes through when we need them the most."