A teenage boy from Denton is the UK's fastest sport stacker- and is now seeking sponsors to help him represent the country at the 2022 Junior Olympic Games this summer.
Finley Newell, 13, is an ace at sport stacking, which requires you to stack paper cups in multiple tricky sequences as fast as you can. He enjoys competing in tournaments across the country and is starting to make a name for himself in the worldwide community of sport stacking.
In 2020, he made the national team and in October 2021, he became the fastest overall in the UK. Currently, his personal best record is 5.055 seconds, making him the 58th best ranking in the world for sport stacking.
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Now, Finley has set up a fundraising page to collect the money he needs to fly to Greensboro in North Carolina, United States, to compete in the 2022 Junior Olympic Games. Taking place this summer, the global competition attracts around 600 young people who will compete in sports such as basketball, fencing, martial arts and cheerleading.
In the sport stacking division, Finley will go head-to-head against 50 to 60 people. The sport stacking tournament takes place from 28 July to 30 July at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, which is the largest indoor arena in the United States, seating over 23,500 people.
Proud mum Lisa, 48, told the M.E.N. about her son's talent and how the sport stacking community has welcomed him with open arms. She said: "Finley has been sport stacking for almost six years now. We are accepting sponsors from businesses and donations from the community, as his team can't fund the trip to America.
" He was previously sponsored by Toyota to compete in Spain. Before Covid hit, he was also supposed to compete in Singapore. It’s brilliant that he has got something he is interested in, and to see him progress. When we go to tournaments in the UK, you can always hear people saying, ‘oh, look, there’s Finley!’
"Everybody is so welcoming with the sport. It’s so sweet. It's a lovely community."
It takes hours of practice for Finley to perfect his technique. He has to buy cups of a certain kind, made from a specially designed plastic and with holes at the bottom, so that air can come through. Donations have started coming in for Finley's fundraising page from generous individuals from the community, with £215 already raised so far. To donate to Finley's fundraising page, visit here.
Explaining his passion for sport stacking, Finley, 13, said: "In 2016, Stephen Mulhern had a tv show called Go For It and I saw someone do sport stacking on there. He is my friend now.
" I thought it was really interesting, so I started doing it. I t took me a long time to get really good. Now, I am officially the fastest in the United Kingdom.
“I really do enjoy it. It improves my hand-eye coordination. Sometimes, I get frustrated because it is tough, trying to get a new personal best. But I enjoy practicing with friends, too.
"I've got at least 60 cups in the house at the moment! I've made lifelong friends from doing this sport and taking part in worldwide competitions.
"People are really supportive at competitions- even if you don't beat someone's time, they still cheer you on. Anyone can try sport stacking and become good at it."
Additionally, Finley revealed that competing in the Junior Olympics has been a dream of his for years.
He continued: " I have been wanting to go to the Junior Olympics for ages, because I have quite a few friends in America. But I didn’t have the chance as it was cancelled because of Covid.
"Now I have the chance to go. The Junior Olympics has three different events, with loads of different sequences.
"So its 12 cups in the cycle and you have to do six different sequences. You have to do one sequence and then down-stack it (take it down), and then up-stack another sequence, and then take it down and do another sequence and take it down.
“If I do end up going to America, I'm going to be nervous. It’s very competitive, but I'm really excited. Seeing the donations and support from people, it's amazing. It gives me a lot of motivation."
To donate to Finley's fundraising page, visit here
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