How good at cup stacking are you?

Can you imagine stacking nine cups and taking them down in 1.756 seconds? Labeeba Rahman is a junior who has dedicated her life to cup stacking since elementary school. She started cup stacking in the second grade at Stone Mill. After school, one of her physical education teachers would host a club dedicated to cup stacking and she would go after school just for fun. Rahman continued in the club until her PE teacher left the school and the club was disbanded. But she still continued playing. In sixth grade, she was accepted into Team Maryland. From there she started taking cup stacking more seriously and started practicing more frequently. In seventh grade, Rahman was given a position on Team USA. “It’s a lot of pressure to do well, but the community is great. I really have to practice frequently to make sure I stay within the standard times for someone my age on a national team,” Rahman said.

Being a part of the USA has come along with lots of awards for Rahman. Her most notable award has been third place overall in the female category for the Junior Olympic Games. “I think it’s really cool that we have someone in our school on the USA team and it’s super impressive that she can stack cups that fast,” junior Esteban Taborga said.

Cup stacking has a cycle where participants stack different stacks and then do the whole cycle of all of the stacks. The first stack is three cups, another three cups, and another three cups. The individual 3-3-3 stacking world record of 1.335 seconds was done by Hyeon Jong Choi and Rahman can do it in 1.756 secs. . The second stack is three cups, six cups, and three cups, she can stack all of those and take them done in 2.234 seconds. Rahman’s best time doing the cycle that is the 3-3-3, take them down, then do 3-6-,3 and take them down, is 6.628 seconds. She sits in the fourth overall female spot in Maryland, 30th overall female spot in the United States, and 346th overall female in the world.

Rahman wanted to bring cup stacking to school just like it was shared with her in elementary school. So, she started the Cup Stacking Club. In the club, members can learn how to do the different types of stacks and y go to at least one competition. Rahman wanted to create a club that was open to everyone and a place for people to make new friends. “I saw her doing cup stacking at the Club Expo and I’ve never seen someone do it that fast,” junior Jenna Heitmann said.

Rahman wants the club to do more than just reach out to students but to the special education program. There is a large division, which is called the special stacker, which is reserved for athletes with any form of disabilities. She wanted to expose such an inclusive sport to the school. In the future, she would love to partner up with the autism and SCB program.