In modern day sports, we keep track of every stat, no matter how small. But until the SPARQ training and rating system was created in 2004, there was never a way to measure a main component in a competitive athlete's success ... their pure athletic ability. The goal of the SPARQ system is to boil down a player's athleticism into one number that represents the player’s overall athletic skill—pinpointing what areas he or she is good at, and which areas they need to improve.
It is about your athleticism
Using science and innovation, SPARQ promotes new methods of testing, training and performance enhancement. The good news is that you don't have to be born with speed - it's been scientifically proven that every athlete can train in specific ways to improve overall speed. And every player's game will benefit from being faster, stronger and more explosive.
The SPARQ rating system is a "simple proprietary formula" that combines results of individual tests of speed, power, agility, reaction, and quickness into a single number representing an athlete's overall athleticism. Compare your SPARQ rating to see where you stand and how you compare to your peers and elite athletes in your age group from the standpoint of athletic ability. Then you can identify your strengths and improvement areas and develop a specific training program to raise your athleticism. Finally, it is up to you, the individual player, to commit to the training, retesting, retraining, ... regiment to reap any type of benefit.
It is about injury prevention
In middle school and high school, sport specific athletic training can play a huge role in injury prevention. At this age, many inspiring athletes have undisciplined athleticism and youth flexibility. Structured athletic training can make a big difference in terms of preventing injuries by making the youth players more aware of their athletic strengths and weaknesses. General and sport specific athletic training can increase flexibility and strengthen muscles and tendons to be less prone injury.
College coaches and professional scouts care
College and professional scouts have always recruited athletic players. It has only been just recently that these professional recruiters are able to evaluate potential recruits on a consistent scale across multiple players as oppose to their personal feel.
“Baseball needs a different type of athleticism—it’s a dexterity type sport that has to be fused with quickness of feet, and it’s done in short spurts,” said John Castleberry, the East Coast Scouting Supervisor for the Philadelphia Phillies. “Every level from Little League on up, the higher you go, the speed of the game increases. And as the speed of the game increases, the good athletes adapt to the speed of the game—you have to be a good athlete. Whether that’s hitting a baseball, throwing a baseball or running, you have to have some kind of athletic ability. Different types of athletic skills are used.”
Castleberry was interested enough in SPARQ to begin having all players at the East Coast Showcase, a gathering of some of the best high school baseball prospects east of the Mississippi held in early August, get their SPARQ ratings for scouts to consider as they start their plans for the MLB draft.
SPARQ is making inroads in many other showcase events:
- Baseball: Area Code Games, Top Prospects Camp, World Wood Bat Championships, Perfect Game National Showcase, Kansas Baseball Fall Showcase Invitational
- Soccer: U.S. Soccer Federation Spring Showcase, Better SPARQ Showcase, National Soccer Training Camp
- Softball: Surf City Fall and Summer Showcase, Pennsbury NFCA Camp, Huntington Beach Showcase, Rising Stars Showcase, National Fastpitch Coaches Association sponsored events
- Football: Taft Union High School Football Showcase, Vista Del Lago High School Football Showcase, Union High School Football Showcase
- Basketball: Ohio Varsity Sports Summer Showcase, Nike L.A. Summer Showcase, AAU Super Showcase, Mullen's 120 Elite Camp
A list of currently scheduled events for all six targeted sports can be found at SPARQ training events.
Coaches and scouts are starting to use the SPARQ rating score more as a disqualifier or minimum standard as oppose to an absolute measure. Like the SAT college entrance exam, potential recruits need to obtain a minimum score to get further consideration. In 2008, the minimum score is currently considered to be around 80 for both men and women.
Why should you care?
The answer to this question boils down to the individual player's athletic goals. SPARQ rating and training can be used by high school athlete's to identify their strengths and improvement areas in their overall athletic development. If you wish to pursue athletics beyond the high school level, then realize that many Division-1 schools will use this metric as a minimum standard for your acceptance into their program. This is not an absolute metric and many other elements of the game will be considered like competitive spirit, sport specific skill, and inter-personal team behaviors. Chances are, if you are interested in attending any Division-1 college in the next couple of years, you will be tested and the results evaluated.
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