SP FBA offers immersive training experience

Parents, would you like to help your son achieve his dream of a college football scholarship?

SP Football Academy can help. *(Scroll further down the page for SP FBA alumni profiles and comments from their parents.)

The SP FBA is a complete training experience that not only fully develops the physical skills necessary to excel at the sport of football, but also provides detailed guidance for the nutritional and mental components essential in achieving college level athletic performance.

Perhaps most importantly, SP FBA staff will promote athletes to a host of college football recruiters and recruiting media throughout the Midwest and across the country and provide unique exposure opportunities previously unseen in Kansas.

I’ve been fortunate to call Sharp Performance CEO Jake Sharp a friend and colleague. Over the last decade Jake and I have worked hand-in-hand - along with Sports in Kansas founder Chet Kuplen - to provide exposure opportunities for Kansas high school football players, most notably through SP Combines and Showcases. Because of this, I can confirm that Sharp’s commitment to doing things the right way and helping young athletes reach their potential is unparalleled.

And his new and improved SP Football Academy (SP FBA) is the evolution of that commitment.

Starting next week, SP FBA head coach David Leonard and an all-star cast of coaches and contributors will begin an immersive experience for football players from the classes of 2022 through 2025 that will include position specific training, performance training, nutrition consultation, guidance through the recruiting process and exposure opportunities.

For more details on how to get your son signed up for the SP FBA visit sharp-performance.com.

College scholarships are the result of successful high school football careers

The focus for high school football players shouldn’t be a college football scholarship. The goal should be to play the game you love with your friends, learn to be a great teammate, excel at your role on the team and try to help your team achieve its potential.

However, a college football scholarship can very well be the culmination of the high school football experience, but in the modern era the availability of those scholarship opportunities are significantly impacted by an athlete’s ability to market his skills and completely develop his natural talents.

Sharp Performance cannot only help young athletes achieve their peak athletic performance SP FBA can help them navigate the social media landscape and stand out at camps and combines, aspects of the recruiting process more important now than ever before.

But don’t take my word for it, let’s talk to some of the parents who called the SP experience a valuable part of their son’s overall training and credited Leonard and Sharp for providing exposure opportunities and training instruction otherwise unavailable.

Proven results

Taylon Peters, Josh Rivas and Kade Remsberg. 

What does this trio have in common? 

They are among the country’s top college football players. 

What else do they have in common?

They are SP FBA alumni.

While training with Sharp Performance was just one piece in their journey to a college football scholarship - a journey that started as kids in their respective communities of Salina, Hutchinson and Newton - it helped in honing their skills as football players and providing much needed exposure in a state often at the bottom of college recruiters’ priority lists.

Taylon Peters, RB, Washburn

For Taylon Peters success on the wrestling mat was almost a forgone conclusion. The younger brother of former Salina Central and University of Nebraska wrestler Dalton Peters and the son of then Salina Central wrestling coach Shannon Peters, Taylon, a kids state champion, appeared destined for greatness in high school.

And the younger Peters didn’t disappoint. 

A four-time state placer, three-time medalist and two-time state runner-up as a high school wrestler for his dad, it appeared Taylon might follow in his brother’s footsteps and become a collegiate wrestler. But Taylon, also like his older brother, was a standout running back for the Mustang football program and at some point a college football scholarship became a goal.

But Taylon would have to overcome obstacles to catch the eye of college recruiters. At just 5-10 he was an undersized tailback for a team mired in a long losing streak.

Peters knew he needed to display more versatility to get on the radar of college coaches and that’s where David Leonard came into play.

Leonard, a professional trainer for Sharp Performance and former standout wide receiver for the University of Wyoming, helped Peters with the nuance of route running and pass catching.

With the hire of coach Mark Sandbo prior to the start of Taylon’s senior season the Mustangs switched to a more wide-open Spread offense and Peters enjoyed an all-state senior season rushing for more than 1,700 yards and catching passes for nearly 350 yards.

Taylon’s parents credited Leonard for helping him prepare to make the jump to the college game.

“Working with David Leonard at Sharp Performance improved Taylon’s footwork, his ability to catch passes and gave him confidence to compete at the next level, a much faster game,” Lisa said.

In addition to Taylon’s outstanding senior season, one in which the Mustangs finished 7-3 under Sandbo’s leadership, he also displayed his versatility at Sharp Performance combines and showcases and played for the SP Elite 7-on-7 team in tournaments across the Midwest, working his way onto the radar of a number of FCS and DII programs.

After earning offers from several DII programs, Peters ultimately signed with Washburn, where he burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2019 making nine starts and appearing in all 11 games for a 6-5 Ichabod squad.

His versatility was an important part of the Washburn offense as he rushed for 544 yards and seven touchdowns and caught 26 passes for 283 yards playing in one of the top Division II football conferences in the country.

He was expected to be a pivotal player for the Ichabods last fall before COVID ended Washburn’s season before it started. Even after the MIAA cancelled the season, Washburn had planned to play a pair of exhibition games, but those contests were cancelled following positive COVID tests.

Peters is sure to be featured in the WU offense when the Ichabods return to the field this spring. While the MIAA will not develop a formal football schedule for the spring, conference teams will be allowed to set up no more than four joint practices, scrimmages, or games with outside competition or other MIAA members.

For more details on how to get your son signed up for the SP FBA visit sharp-performance.com.

Josh Rivas, OL, K-State

Tall and massive, Rivas emerged as a top college offensive line prospect early in his high school playing days at Hutchinson High School. But with a wealth of natural tools what Rivas would need to capitalize on his ability was an understanding of next level offensive line play, nutrition and injury prevention.

The trainers at Sharp Performance answered the call.

“[SP] helped develop Josh’s mindset and football skills to move on to the next level,” Josh’s father Jose Rivas said.

Jose said the trainers at Sharp Performance also helped with his “footwork, hand and feet placement.”

At 6-6, 330 pounds, Rivas must take extra precautions when it comes to his flexibility, footwork and diet. Sharp Performance gave him the tools he needed to improve in those areas and its paid off for the former redshirt in the form of major playing time in 33 games over the past three seasons.

After the 2019 season he earned All-Big 12 honors for his play and prior to the start of this season Pro Football Focus rated him the top returning offensive lineman in the country.

“If any athlete wants to move on to the next level, whether it’s high school or college, and wants to excel, they should definitely look up Jake Sharp,” Jose Rivas added. “He knows what it takes to succeed, and can get the results.”

For more details on how to get your son signed up for the SP FBA visit sharp-performance.com.

Kade Remsberg, RB, Air Force Academy

Remsberg is one of the fastest athletes the state of Kansas has ever produced and the product of a family of track fanatics. His father Tad is the Newton track coach and younger sister Maggie is a pentathlete at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

In spite of his tremendous success as a sprinter, Remsberg’s passion was football, but at just 5-9, and playing for a Newton football team that finished consistently at or near the bottom of their division of the AVCTL, he struggled to spark the interest of recruiters at football’s highest level.

For Remsberg, his speed got him to the porch of a number of top college football programs, but Sharp Performance helped him kick down the door. Together with their work promoting Remsberg’s talents to recruiters, Leonard and Sharp also helped Kade improve his lateral quickness and pass catching ability while helping him put on much needed muscle.

All the work ultimately netted Kade a Division I football opportunity at the Air Force Academy and now, four years later, he wraps up his college career as one of the top players in the Mountain West, tallying almost 1,800 yards rushing in 29 games over the past three seasons.

Remsberg was limited in action in the COVID shortened 2020 season, but his 2019 season was one of the best in the conference. He rushed for 1,050 yards on the year and closed his season with a bang earning the offensive MVP of the Cheez-It Bowl after rushing for 178 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons’s 31-21 win over Washington State.

Tad Remsberg says SP was crucial part of Kade’s growth as a football player, and as a college prospect.

“Jake and the SP crew helped tremendously in Kade’s development, and the recruiting process,” the older Remsberg said. “Kade spent at least two days a week working with SP during his offseason. They always did a great job of tailoring workouts to get the most out of all their athletes. Jake also really understands speed development and helped Kade to have a successful track career as well. I can say without a doubt that Jake had a huge impact on Kade’s recruitment and the success of his career at Air Force.”

For more details on how to get your son signed up for the SP FBA visit sharp-performance.com.