Stone Skipping Society: A New Player in Menton Athletics

No one can dispute that the key value of the Menton campus is athletic excellence. Students burn the midnight fuel in the volleyball courts or drag themselves out of bed to head to the fields. Yet, the rocky beaches and the crystal clear water remained untouched in a competitive environment. Until now.

Three 2A entrepreneurs and masterminds responded to the deep void created by the absence of organized stone skipping on campus. An association that is well before its time, the Stone Skipping Society of SciencesPo Menton engrains the sport into our community forever.

Established in 2021 by co-founders Nikola Avramovic, Stanis​​ław Naklicki, and Benjamin Vitenson, the Society is a response to those with a great interest in and desire to institutionalize the sport, according to Naklicki. The athletes in the society can be found on the Sablettes and Bastion beaches in their training positions, although the organized events themselves are characterized as “spontaneous” and “impromptu” by Naclicki. The open and integrative team offers ample competition for those to perfect their sport, while simultaneously instilling the inspiration to learn in many by assisting and encouraging perfection and accuracy.

As the name suggests, the goal of stone skipping is twofold: for the rock to skip the most number of times while simultaneously achieving the farthest distance. Sound simple? Not at all. The precision of the sport comes down to the choice of the right flat rock, core strength and balance, and muscular endurance to throw with aim and dexterity. All of these skills are targeted during the society’s trainings. Video evidence and inspiration can be found on the society’s Instagram page, @stone_skipping_society.

Unfortunately, no tell-all article on the issue of stone skipping can be complete without the discussion of its status as a sport. The controversy is at best baseless and harmful to the many people that dedicate their time, energy, and hopes into the sport. Naklicki defends his position with a simple statement: “Stone skipping is a sport at least to the same extent as tennis is a sport. It involves a motion and movement giving a round object projectile motion. They both involve handsome gentlemen and ladies partaking in the activity.”

Furthermore, how would established organizations like the North American Stone Skipping Association respond to unfounded accusations towards their legitimacy? Or legends in the game, like Kurt Steiner, Christina Bowen-Bravery or Peter Szep?

Christina Bowen-Bravery further nuances the discussion of stone-skipping with a sad fact: the sport is very male-dominated. Especially for a campus with a female majority population, shattering gender stereotypes should be at the core of all associations. Vitenson commented on the sad reality of gender imbalance in the game: “I think if we had more women role models in the sport we would see a surge in participation, but we are looking to tear down that gender wall of stone skipping and have everyone participate.”

As the sport becomes accepted and embraced on campus, the real question becomes, why does the serious sport of stone skipping get continually excluded from the mini-crit competition? Vitenson, appalled at the lack of stone skipping at such a well-rounded, inter-campus competition, calls for action on the student and administrative level to fix the wrongdoing.

Whether it be your first time looking at a rock, or your final practice before the next World Stone Skimming Championship, the new society has “expanded into everyday life of students,” according to Vitenson, and is dedicated to continuing this legacy and cultural tradition. Who will stand in the way of such a “noble activity” and the interest therein among the student population?

The official incorporation of this sport into campus life is changing how the campus views athletics and actively pushes for change in the professional sport. The time has come to end unproductive debates regarding the activity and instead focus the energy of the campus on embracing an integral aspect of culture: stone skipping.

- Ada Baser