Each spring, high school underclassmen around the country take part in regional events called the Nike SPARQ Combine. Though many believe that SPARQ is just a Nike product line, it is actually its own entity that began in 2004 with the goal of developing a sort of SAT score for baseline athletic ability. SPARQ itself stands for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness. At each combine, an athlete is put through a battery of four tests. Their outcomes in each test are measured and then transformed in to an overall number, called their SPARQ score. In this manner, talent evaluators have a sort of SAT score for an athlete’s raw talent, and a way to compare individuals.
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