Two city boys in Black Stacks team

SAM BAKER/Manawatu Standard

FAST FINGERS: Michael Sadlier, 13, and Adam Lawton, 12, practice for the World Sport Stacking Championships in America.

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New Zealand has a new national team - the Black Stacks.

And two Palmerston North boys have been selected for the invitational team of four bound for America to compete in the World Sport Stacking Championships in April.

Freyberg High School's Michael Sadlier, 13, and Palmerston North Boys' High School's Adam Lawton, 12, will fly to Denver with two boys from Gisborne in mid-April for the two-day tournament.

Sport stacking is described as a track meet for hands at warp speed.

Pyramids are stacked using 10 or 12 specially designed plastic cups with holes in the bottom.

Both have been training for a couple of hours every day in preparation for the event which attracts hundreds of people from Japan, Canada, Germany, America, England and Singapore.

The occasional bead of sweat does form and they do get slightly puffed but the biggest issue is suffering from aching wrists.

"Sometimes after a long time my arms get really tired and they just stop," Michael said.

Adam, who was sucked into the craze while at Palmerston North Intermediate, admitted he was addicted to the sport.

"The main reason why I do it so much I guess is to beat my time."

Michael's record for the cycle stack is 7.84 seconds and Adam's is 8.93 seconds.

Both will need to get their hands moving faster than a magician to beat the world record, which stands at 5.93 seconds.

All four boys will compete in up to seven events including individual, teams relay and doubles.

Sport stacking encourages people to use both sides of the brain and can improve hand-eye co-ordination.

- © Fairfax NZ News