For years, the National Scouting Combine has built its reputation evaluating draft-eligible college athletes and helping create opportunities at the next level through verified athletic testing, professional exposure, and data-driven performance analysis.

This Saturday, that same philosophy arrives in Durham, North Carolina — but this time, the focus shifts to the next generation.

The National Scouting Combine NextGen, the organization’s newly launched youth division, will host middle school and high school athletes for an experience designed to introduce younger competitors to the same professional standards and structured evaluation process that have helped shape the National Scouting Combine brand for nearly two decades.

NextGen was built around a simple idea:

Athletes deserve more than opinions. They deserve measurable feedback.

“As we continue expanding the National Scouting Combine platform, one of our biggest priorities is creating opportunities earlier in an athlete’s journey,” said Jimmy Kibble, Founder and CEO of the National Scouting Combine Foundation.

“For years, we’ve helped athletes gain objective insight into their performance through verified testing and measurable results. NextGen brings that same philosophy to middle school and high school athletes — giving families meaningful data, creating healthy competition, and helping young athletes understand where they stand and where they can grow. This isn’t about hype. It’s about development.”

Unlike traditional camps that often emphasize entertainment or uncontrolled competition, National Scouting Combine NextGen centers around standardized athletic testing, verified measurements, and actionable performance data designed to help athletes understand where they excel — and where they can improve.

Participants will complete official combine testing including:

• 40-Yard Dash
• Pro Agility Shuttle
• 3-Cone Drill
• Vertical Jump
• Broad Jump

Each athlete receives evaluation through the National Scouting Combine’s proprietary performance system, generating insights intended to provide athletes and families with a clearer understanding of speed, explosiveness, agility, power output, and overall athletic development.

The data matters.

The 40-yard dash remains one of the most recognized measurements in sports because it provides verified insight into an athlete’s acceleration, top-end speed, and overall explosiveness — critical traits for nearly every position on the field.

The 3-cone drill measures far more than simple quickness. It evaluates body control, balance, change-of-direction efficiency, and the ability to accelerate while transitioning through movement patterns — traits heavily associated with football performance and reactive athleticism.

The broad jump is one of the clearest indicators of lower-body power and explosion. It measures how effectively an athlete can generate force from the ground, which directly translates to acceleration, burst, and athletic movement across multiple sports.

But Durham also introduces something new.

This year, National Scouting Combine NextGen expands beyond testing with a new competitive finals format designed to reward top performers while maintaining the controlled environment that defines the event.

Top athletes throughout the day will qualify for featured competition finals including:

Fastest Man Competition

Top 40-yard dash performers advance to head-to-head timed races to determine who truly owns the fastest time of the day.

Strongman Challenge (OL / DL / LB / RB)

Power athletes will battle through the 200lb tire flip challenge in a test of explosiveness, strength, endurance, and competitiveness. The addition of the tire flip challenge introduces another layer of functional athletic evaluation, testing total-body power, leverage, explosiveness, conditioning, and competitive toughness in a controlled environment.

Agility Gauntlet

Top performers from the initial 3-cone drill testing will advance into a second round of timed 3-cone competition to determine the event’s top movement athlete.

Most Explosive Competition

Athletes who dominate the broad jump testing phase return for a featured explosive finals showdown focused entirely on lower-body power and horizontal explosion.

Athletes will compete for recognition including:

🏆 Fastest Athlete Award
🏆 Most Powerful Athlete
🏆 Top Agility Performer
🏆 Most Explosive Athlete

The featured finals block was created to add energy and excitement for athletes, spectators, and families — without sacrificing the integrity of the testing process.

If you’re looking for hype-driven one-on-one matchups, there are plenty of places to find them.

National Scouting Combine NextGen takes a different approach.

Measure. Rank. Compete.

Top performers will earn the opportunity to go head-to-head in featured finals to determine who is truly the fastest, strongest, most agile, and most explosive athlete at the National Scouting Combine.

We measure what matters — so athletes can improve where it counts.

As National Scouting Combine continues expanding opportunities beyond draft-eligible athletes, Durham marks another milestone for the organization — creating an environment where younger athletes can begin understanding performance, development, and competition long before recruiting becomes part of the conversation.

The future of athletic evaluation starts now.

📍 Durham, North Carolina
📅 Saturday, May 30, 2026