At LBPostSports, we’ve been whining for months about how football season should never end—well, turns out it doesn’t. Three Moore League schools (Poly, Lakewood, and Wilson) are using Nike’s SPARQ training program for their teams, trying to help build explosiveness, speed, and power—SPARQ stands for Speed Power Agility Reaction and Quickness, the elements the training program tries to focus on.
Last Saturday, Nike held one of their SPARQ football combines at Southwest L.A. College, where over 1,200 athletes came to train and get their SPARQ ratings—Saturday was the midway point for the six-month Nike SPARQ Training Football Academy Program, from January to mid-summer, so many players there had been working within the program for a few months already. Three Moore League schools are among the 32 schools serving as Nike SPARQ Academies in the area, schools where kids are regularly tested and trained in the program—Poly, Lakewood, and Wilson all participate.
Athletes from Poly and Lakewood attended last Saturday’s combine, while more from each school are expected at this Saturday’s combine, held at Vets. “We don’t have much till Spring ball starts,” says Jackrabbits Devin Jackson, a sophomore this season. “I’m just trying to train and get better. My ratings today were okay, but that just means I need to train harder over the summer—I’m excited to train.”
Jackson was one of a half-dozen ‘Rabbits at the combine, and former NFL Pro Bowler/current ESPN NFL Live host Marcellus Wiley says he’s impressed with all the athlete’s drive. “They’re out here trying to improve themselves on a Saturday,” he said. “I feel like I went to high school in BC, it’s changed so much since I graduated—these kids are getting professional training and skills at the high school level.” Wiley marveled at the increased size and power of the high school game, as well as how much interest is being invested in prep players. “They’re bigger, they’re faster, they’re stronger—I think it’s the McDonald’s and the milk—but the earlier you can get to an athlete without stunting their growth physically or mentally, the better it’s going to be for them, and the business of the NFL. These kids are thinking about the long haul, and it’s exciting to see Nike, the NFL, and ESPN giving that interest back.”
Dana Reed, a junior wide receiver for Lakewood (the lone Lancer at the combine last Saturday), said he thinks it’s all about desire, too. “It takes a lot of work to be a starter,” he said. “You have to let the coaches know you want to play—my training is going well, I’m just happy to be here.”
Fellow wide receiver, Poly’s Rechard Becnel, like the program but says he had a better day training at Poly than he did at the combine. “I think it’s because they have us in these Lakewood colors,” he said, indicating his red and white Nike jersey. “I need to get back in green and gold.”
Click play to watch some clips from the combine, as well as the players from Poly talking to a Nike cameraman.