This is the fourth and final post on the SPARQ rating and training system. The previous post answer the questions: what is SPARQ training, why an athlete should care about the rating system , and what it tests? In this post, I will insights into the commitment required for the training to be successful and a few results of athletes that have gone through the program.
Commitment required
SPARQ training requires a serious commitment of time by both the parents and player. The SPARQ training I have witnessed consists of three dimensions: 1) general speed, agility, and quickness, 2) sport specific power (or core) training, and 3) a constant dose of general athleticism training. Out of season athletes are recommended to attend three times per week while in-season athletes go one to two times a week. During your initial evaluation phase, your specific trainer will ask what school sports you play and when the in-season starts. To prevent over training and unnecessary physical stress, the training regiment is adjusted during the season to focus on flexibility and maintenance. Many multi-sport athletes will have their training regiment regularly adjusted to work on specific training for the next season.
While results become noticeable within a two to three months, most athletes wanting to dramatic improve their performance will need at least nine to twelve months of intense training. Our local training center has a wall of fame, where they display newspaper clippings and college acceptance announcements of former and current trainees. Surprisingly, these athletes cover a very broad range of sports that not only include the traditional SPARQ sports of baseball, basketball, and football, but also a gymnast, a swimmer, a field hockey player, and a ice hockey player. The shortest time of training for the wall of fame members was three and a half years. Three and a half years! That is a commitment and the results speak for themselves.
Results that I have personally observed
I became aware of the SPARQ training and rating system about two years ago. In that time, I have seen some young athletes increase their athletic performance while others have obtained minimal benefit. Based on my observation, the difference in the outcome boils down to the young athlete's (not the parents) personal commitment and desire to increase their athleticism, typically based on catalyst event. Here are a couple of examples.
A middle school softball player was tired of sitting the bench and occasionally playing right field. She started SPARQ training shortly after middle school graduation. The next spring she was the starting utility infielder for the high school team. She would fill in one of two positions on the right side of the infield vacated by the game's pitcher. The fall of her sophomore year, she was invited to an elite infield for the eight best high school infield players in the area and in the spring became the permanent varsity shortstop. Her total investment time in her athletic ability is 27 months and she is still attending two to three times per week. The catalyst, wanting more from high school softball than picking splinters from her backside.
A high school baseball player was the slowest athlete on the team. The catalyst was the coach describing the word "slow" as this individual. Nine months later during pre-season training, the coach saw him again and was ecstatic at his newfound speed and moved him into the top of the lineup. He is still attending two to three times per week with a new goal to play Division-1 baseball when he graduates.
A graduating middle school basketball player was given the opportunity to play AAU spring basketball with the high school junior varsity coach. The catalyst, the junior varsity coach telling the player that white boys cannot jump and you are too slow. You will probably play freshman next year. By the start of the next season, this player, when compared to the junior varsity squad, was in the top tier for vertical jump, competitive with the fastest players on the team, and quick enough to move from power forward to shooting guard. He made the high school junior varsity team as the sixth man his freshman year. The length of his investment in general and basketball specific athleticism, seven months and still training two to three times per week with the goal to make the varsity squad his sophomore year.
While the above examples provide proof points for the positive aspects of SPARQ training, not every athlete I have observed has had a successful outcome. There are two types of athlete's that I have observed that receive minimal benefit: the athlete already with above average athleticism without college aspirations and the casual athlete. This has leads me to believe the key to a successful outcome is a defining event or experience that shows and drives the individual through the training. A motivator to obtain a challenging goal.
Wrapping it up
The genesis of SPARQ started in 1999 with Rudy Chapa's vision to create a system to improve the overall athleticism of high school athletes. Over the past nine years, the SPARQ system has expanded into seven sport specific rating and training system that is starting to be used by professional scouts and college recruiters to measure and grade potential recruits. For an young athlete interested in attending a Division-1 and is willing and committed to entering an intense training program that can increase their chances of being noticed and recruited by a college program, then the SPARQ training system needs to be seriously considered.
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