That’s the official greeting in Tennessee where I just returned from after demonstrating sport stacking to the Southerners. As one of the newest members of the Speed Stack National Demonstration Team, my first trip took me to a Physical Education Conference at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.

This is me (on the left) and
my friend Amber (on the right).

We are good friends and
fellow Demo Team Stackers.

My friend, Amber, is also on the Demo team and we got to travel together for this trip.

In preparation for the conference, we had to master our 3-3-3, 3-6-3 and cycle routines. We also had to learn two, three and four-color stacking and “Dueling Speed Stacks” – a fun routine choreographed to the “Dueling Banjos” music. How appropriate for the South!

We practiced a lot before the conference and then when we got there, we practiced some more – at the hotel, on the floor before the conference and at the booth during the conference.

We stacked and stacked and stacked! The best part about stacking so much was that I beat some of my own personal records!

Well, when we arrived in Nashville, we had a little time to spare, so we checked out the Grand Ole Opry House and museum. It was very interesting and I even learned a thing or two about country music.

My parents and Mr. Roger Washburn (the Speed Stacks representative who took us on the trip) REALLY enjoyed the museum. (I guess you have to be old like them to appreciate singers like Patsy Cline and Roy Acuff!)

Anyway, after that, it was on to Clarksville to prepare for the conference.

Conference day and we are ON...
We got up very early the next morning to go to the campus and set up our booth. We stood at the booth all day and greeted people, talked about and demonstrated sport stacking and taught people how to stack.

In the afternoon, we presented sport stacking to a group of almost 100 teachers. I was nervous before hand, but Mr. Roger reminded me that I just needed to do my best and have fun.

As it turned out, all that nervousness was wasted because we had a ball! I loved showing everyone how much fun kids have with sport stacking and I even noticed how contagious our enthusiasm was. I hope all of those teachers take the sport back to their schools and introduce it to their students.

I learned a lot on this trip and would like to share my lessons with you:

1. You can have a lot of fun even when you’re
working hard.

2. If you really enjoy doing something, it’s easy to
share it with others.

And most importantly,

3. Practice may not make perfect, but it does make
you better.

Well, that’s all for now. Y’all keep stackin’ and stack fast!