The one thing common to all journeys is a point of origin. We test our athletes to provide exactly that. Measuring yourself against that point of origin tells you how much progress you have made toward the end goal and at what rate you have made that progress. A testing protocol that provides relevant data about your athletic capabilities should be the cornerstone of all athlete development programmes.

Our test data also allows us to compare our athletes historically and to compare them to professional athlete performance standards. It makes no difference how well you read a game if you can’t play at the speed of the game. When asked about their first experiences at the top level most players talk about how much faster the game was compared to lower grades and how much bigger and stronger the other players were; not very often do people players talk about the difference in skill level. Don’t get me wrong, game skill is important, but when you play games like Rugby, Rugby League, Netball, Basketball or Soccer you can physically dominate your opponent no matter what their skill level. Speed, strength, agility and power relate directly to the amount of time players have to make split second decisions; every half second you have to decide either to run, to pass, or to kick is the difference between success and failure. These physical qualities are what allow a player to showcase his game skill: they are also the most difficult to acquire because it takes years to develop them. If you want to play at the highest level you will need to run as fast, jump as high, change direction, and be as strong as the players that play there – and you will need to do it all game long!

If you’re not testing yourself, how do you know you’re training methods are working? If your training methods aren’t working you’re not getting better. If you’re not getting better why are you even training? If you’re training just to be healthy, feel good about yourself and hang with the boys then stop telling people you want to be a professional athlete and start doing better in school!  Spartakiade athletes want an opportunity to play at the highest level; this is why we train as hard as we do. To get that opportunity we need to improve. This is why we test. If you can measure it – you can improve it! The bigger, faster and stronger you are the more professional potential you have – It’s as simple as that!