An athlete gets off the starting line during testing event at recent ETA combine.
One of the state’s first major football combines of the 2015 training season is coming up Saturday in Tracy. It’s being run by our new partners from Elite Training Academy and will include everyone getting a Spartan Scorecard that measures athletic explosiveness.
It’s only a few days into January and already there are events coming up to help athletes – especially football players – improve their speed, quickness and agility.
At the end of the month in Southern California, the first Cal-Hi Sports/Gold Medal Excellence Speed Camp will be held at Palisades High School. For info, CLICK HERE.
It’s never too early to learn how to start correctly in a sprint event. Photo: Elite Training Academy of California.
For Northern California, the first significant combine of the year is going to be held Saturday at Tracy High’s Wayne Schneider Stadium. The second annual Northern California Sports Combine presented by the Elite Training Academy of California starts at 9 a.m. for students aged 5 to 8 and continues through the day. The final group gets going at 11:30 a.m.
“There’s really no limit on the last group,” said Jim Carr, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of the Elite Training Academy. “Anyone can participate. We have a 22-year-old young man who’s going to one of the regional NFL combines who will be attending as a prep session for the February NFL Combine in Denver.”
Two aspects of the ETA combine that appear to be unique include more events that are tested than at the more well-known combines and the possibility for a participant to have their registration fee applied to ETA training sessions.
Events to be tested in Tracy will be:
•40-Yard Dash (Laser Timed)
•20-Yard Shuttle (Laser Timed)
•3 Cone Drill (Laser Timed)
•Broad Jump
•Vertical Leap
•200-Yard Shuttle
•Strength Test (different based on age groups)
Explosiveness is measured by many coaches using vertical leap. Photo: Elite Training Academy of California.
Coaches that will be on-hand, assisting in the testing and providing tips on how to improve in each event include the following:
•Marshall Sperbeck – Former NFL Quarterback and Former Division I Head Coach Football Sacramento State University.
•John Harvey – Current Track Head Coach De La Salle and NFL Athlete Trainer of T.J. Ward, Ryan Whalen, Jeff Maehl, and other NFL Athletes.
•Shaun Nunes – Performance Specialist/Trainer for NFL players James Jones, Matt Overton, Jeremy Ross, Mike Wallace, and others.
•Dean Rogers – Former NFL Tight End, San Diego Chargers.
•Gaige Allen – Azusa Pacific Football, 2014 Lions All-Star Game Offensive MVP.
•Brad Moberg – Elite Level Power Lifter and Parisi Speed School Certified Performance Specialist.
•Other NFL and Professional Athletes will attend as schedule allows.
“We run this camp like an NFL Combine with quality equipment all around,” Carr said. “We use Laser timing, which may make some of the participants sad as they realize they aren’t quite as fast as they thought, for the 40-yard dash, 3-cone drill, and 20-yard shuttle.”
There are several registration options for participants ranging from Standard Package ($20 to $40) to VIP Package ($40 to $60) but all who sign up will receive a SPARTAN Scorecard (which will tabulate an athletic score similar to what people get at another well-known combine) and a free evaluation from the Parisi Speed School Training Program.
For more details on how to sign up, CLICK HERE for the link to the page set up by ETA.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
