On Saturday, November 9th, GMTM hosted its first Search for Greatness combine at UCF's Nicholson's Fieldhouse. Shaquem Griffin, the holder of the fastest 40-yard dash in NFL Scouting Combine history, partnered with GMTM to help host and coach the event. "The NFL Combine is not the only place where you can see these freak athletes," Griffin commented. "Somebody that's jumping super high, someone that's running super fast. Now, we're opening the door for anybody to be a part of that."
The athletes participated in combine drills: the 40-yard-dash, powerball toss, vertical jump, shuttle, as well as other drills such as the resistance bike and weighted sled. But, this wasn't your run-of-the-mill combine. For the first time in amateur combine history, athletes were able to get their metrics immediately upon completion, as well as video of these drills. New, innovative technology allowed coaches and GMTM officials to track, record, synthesize, and upload this data in a way that was both easy to understand and easy to use for the athlete. They had a verifiable result both on a combine data screen to the side of the drill and on their personal GMTM accounts.
The event saw over 200 athletes submit an application, with 100 athletes getting invited to compete. Athletes from all backgrounds participated, with football, track and field, baseball, basketball, rugby, volleyball, weightlifting, lacrosse, wrestling, paintball, and car racing all being represented. College-age, adult, high school, as well as a few children made up the age demographics.
Yamil Figueroa, a beach volleyball player for UCF's club team with aspirations to make Team USA, wanted to see where he ranked overall athletically and learn how to get himself noticed. By attending the combine and using GMTM, Figueroa will be able to pursue this dream more effectively. "An event like this, I really wanted to see first for myself, I wanted to see how I can improve myself in any areas that need improvement," Figueroa noted after the combine. "My aspiration is to reach out to Team USA, any development program that's out there that could help me succeed in achieving a pro beach volleyball career."
Jonathan Joanis was another participant with professional aspirations. Joanis, who has participated in a minicamp for the San Francisco 49ers and would like to continue playing football professionally, enjoyed the competition level at the combine and ran a 4.5 40-yard-dash.
"I mean I'm a big competitive person so anything competition-wise, I think it really inspires you. You can see someone's technique, even if it's better than yours, so you think 'Ok, I see what they did there,' you know, kind of like a cheat code." Joanis also expressed interest in competing for a national team in a different sport through GMTM, stating that he "would definitely love to take home a gold medal for America in any way."
Men weren't the only athletes to participate either. Katelyn Mattox, a UCF flag football athlete and USA Boxing prospect, had been discovered by USA Boxing through GMTM. "I filled out the form and I got an email from them (USA Boxing) asking to do an interview, so we did that with all their coaches, it was really cool, and I wound up being selected." Mattox attended this event to continue to give herself opportunities to be discovered on GMTM.
Several news and film crews covered the event. News 6 Orlando interviewed Griffin as well as GMTM CEO Joey Grant about the combine. Kaleb Walls, a high school football player with over 13,000 Instagram followers who also ran a 4.4 40, documented it as well. GMTM's recap is published below.
GMTM is looking forward to more combines in the future, partnerships with athletes and facilities, and providing the next generation with even more opportunities to be discovered and continue their careers.
