by Josh Benham, Rapid City Journal
RAPID CITY --- Summer workouts are crucial to high school football players' success, and on Wednesday morning a group of them got a chance to see just how far they have come since last season.
South Dakota School of Mines hosted around 40 high school football players, from out-of-state to right around the corner, for their first annual Regional Football Combine at O'Harra Stadium.
Visitors from states like Idaho, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming joined local athletes in the three-hour instructional camp, put on by the Mines football coaches and high school coaches like St. Thomas More head coach Wayne Sullivan.
Participants underwent testing in the 40-yard dash, 10-yard dash, broad jump, bench press, vertical jump and shuttle run. Mines head coach Dan Kratzer said the kids will be able to measure up their scores with other high school athletes nationwide.
"We put together a regional combine so kids can come in and see where they rank, and by position we show them where they rank in the national percentile," Kratzer said. "It's good for them to know, and they can give that to their high school coaches, or if they're seniors they can give that to their college coaches."
Kratzer was pleased with the showing for the first-time event, and envisions a much broader combine in the coming years.
"We're trying to build this into a regional thing where high schools from all over the region will come in and we'll take care of all the testing for them, and they can go right into their camps and not worry about testing," Kratzer said. "This is something that should draw 200, 300 athletes from the area, eventually."
A couple of Rapid City Central Cobblers, Jake Weber and Aaron Rude, came in hopes that they will impress college recruiters and get some recognition.
"I just wanted to get some colleges to notice me, get my name out there and get some exposure," Weber, who will be a junior, said.
Rude said he picked up some useful pointers for his upcoming season.
"We picked up some technique stuff, things like that, that will help us get better," the senior-to-be said.
It also gave coaches like Sullivan a sneak peek at a few of his players and how they will look during the fall season. Sullivan believed it was important to get younger players out there to get exposed to proper instruction.
"This gives them the opportunity to work on what they need to," Sullivan said. "If you know what to fix, now you can do it. Some of these kids, it's the first time they've ever been to one of these. That's why we started in eighth grade, so you can get that progression every year."
For the players looking to grab the attention of scouts, Sullivan said the camp was a great occasion to keep working on the fundamentals.
"A lot of things you do, if you're fundamentally doing it correct, not only will it make the difference between playing at the next level, but if you will be offered money at the next level," Sullivan said. "If we can get them better fundamentally in everything they do, that's our whole goal. (Kratzer) and I got together to start one here, so these kids have that experience, because a lot of these are hundreds of miles away."
Kratzer and his staff used the combine to work with some Hardrocker recruits as well, and one out-of-state athlete enjoyed the trip to Rapid City.
"It was a nice facility, and I'm thinking about coming here," Raul Silva, an upcoming senior from Garden City, Kan., said. "I like the coaches. It wasn't just testing, it was getting to know these guys, and I liked that about it."
