SALINA — Sharp Performance and Kansas Pregame Football Magazine are joining forces to provide the first preseason testing combine for middle and high school athletes Aug. 9, starting at 8 a.m.
The event, hosted at Sharp Performance Headquarters in Salina, will provide participants verified third party testing results in the 40 yard dash, pro agility drill, broad jump, vertical jump, medicinal ball toss, and bench press reps. Height, weight, and reach will also be measured.
The cost is $39 per athlete, or $29 each for any two or more members from the same school.
Sharp Performance CEO Jake Sharp said the goal is to provide athletes a testing option at a time when they should be in their peak physical condition.
“Sharp Performance is in relentless pursuit of helping athletes gain exposure and believes it is vital for athletes to be tested when they are peaking, rather than when they are beat down after a fall or spring sports season,” Sharp said.
Kansas Pregame publisher John Baetz, a 1999 Fort Hays State University graduate, said he believes college coaches want to see verified testing results from a trusted source like Sharp Performance.
“Over nearly 10 years of providing the only comprehensive football preview magazine for Kansas I’ve had the opportunity to work with dozens of college coaches, and what most want to see from a potential recruit is quality game film, they want to talk to their coaches and teachers, and they would like to see official results of their measurables from a reputable source like Sharp Performance,” Baetz said.
Sharp said the partnership with Pregame will allow the event to be publicized in a variety of methods allowing athletes to gain exposure and hopefully catch the eye of college coaches looking to hand out scholarships, but he emphasized that results will also be sent directly to college coaches in an effort to help them target the state’s top prospects for the class of 2015 and beyond.
“The combine is beneficial for high school seniors, as well as underclassmen unaccustomed to the combine experience,” Sharp said. “The more combine experience and practice you have, the greater the chance of success you will have as an upperclassmen performing at combines. And it’s not just about recruiting, it’s about seeing the results of all your hard work this summer and giving you a benchmark to improve upon. Not everyone can get a college scholarship, but everyone can improve, the combine can provide a practical measurement of that improvement.”
Post-combine coverage will be available on Kpreps.com, the state’s most popular high school sports website. Additional coverage will be provided on social media and in other print and radio outlets.
“Our goal at Kansas Pregame is the same as it was when we started nine years ago, to provide high quality coverage of high school football in Kansas for teams in all classes,” Baetz noted. “Along the way we’d like to see players in Kansas earn scholarship opportunities and help raise the perception of Kansas football as a whole. This combine is just one more step in that process.”
The Sharp Performance headquarters, located in a historic airplane hangar at the Salina Regional Airport, is the state’s largest public indoor field space. It is the offseason home to several NFL football players and draft prospects and is the training facility for the 2013 CPIFL runner-up Salina Bombers.
“It is the only place in central Kansas that you can train with coaches who have played at the highest levels of American football including DI and NFL teams, who have a passion to make you successful,” Sharp noted.
For more information or to register online, visit http://www.eventzilla.net/web/event?eventid=2139037578