Training gives Granite Bay running back a SPARQ

Granite Bay High School running back Danny Thomas is no stranger to football success, so it came as no surprise to those around him when he was invited to join Nike SPARQ Training.SPARQ – Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness – is a national high school athlete rating system created in 2004 as a marketing campaign in partnership with Nike. Athletes invited to participate are scored and ranked based on four tests: vertical jump, 40-yard dash, kneeling power-ball toss and an agility shuttle – three sprints of five, 10 and five yards.After receiving his invitation, Thomas traveled to Oakland in March to take part in a regional combine. He earned the Tim Tebow Award as the top athlete at the competition with an overall SPARQ rating of 116.58. Granite Bay teammate Matt Kasner was sixth with a 99.84 rating.Listed at 5 feet 9½ inches and 194 pounds, Thomas' vertical jump was 34.3 inches. He ran a 4.62-second 40, had a 40-foot power ball toss and a 4.06-second shuttle.Thomas then competed on an injured ankle at the Nike SPARQ Rating National Championship on July 8 in Beaverton, Ore. His national scores were labeled "SCR" for scratched, according to the results, because of the injury, so Thomas' Oakland rating was used, placing him 16th nationally."I didn't perform to the best of my abilities," he said. "After being ranked 16th in the nation, I feel much more confident in my abilities of what I can do."His coach said it was business as usual."Danny goes to a lot of those combines, so he gets seen by people," Granite Bay football coach Ernie Cooper said. "He's a tremendous talent with great explosion, quickness and strength. He has all of it."The unfortunate part was that he sprained his ankle at football camp (last summer). Even so, he was one of the top guys in the nation at what he was doing."Tyler McClaughry, senior manager at ESPN Rise and director of Nike Football Combines, has been associated with SPARQ testing since 2004. He said Thomas has the building blocks of a great athlete."It was unfortunate that Danny wasn't 100-percent healthy at the SPARQ Rating National Championship because I would have liked to have seen what he can do," McClaughry said. "He's a very powerful kid, and if he can keep elevating his game, he should have a great shot at playing at the next level."SPARQ testing is a family tradition. Older brother Ronnie Thomas, a running back for the 2007 Sierra Foothill League and Sac-Joaquin Section Division II-champion Granite Bay football team, also competed in SPARQ during his high school career.On the tail end of SPARQ competition, Thomas is playing halfback for the Grizzlies with a national résumé to boot. Thomas has five touchdowns – four rushing, one receiving – and is Granite Bay's leading rusher with 412 yards in 80 carries, a 5.2-yard average. He also has four receptions for 41 yards."It was a very good learning process for me," Thomas said. "Given the SPARQ rating that I got, I felt very proud and ranks well on my list of achievements. It was also a great experience, and I got to have a lot of fun."Thomas has always been about football, he said. Older brothers Ronnie and Eddie played, and their parents have never missed a game.He began playing football in second grade as an offensive guard and middle linebacker with the Junior Grizzly program."I played both of those positions in eighth grade and freshman year, but sophomore year, they moved me to halfback and flyback," Thomas said. "My junior year, I just played halfback, and I've been there since."Thomas helped lead the Grizzlies over Nevada Union 45-32 in their Sierra Foothill League opener last Friday with 26 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns.