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Thursday afternoon, officials with the El Paso Sports Commission announced that one of the nationally recognized, prestigious Blue-Grey All-American Football Combines will be held in El Paso.

Under the leadership of CEO Brian Kennedy, the commission has partnered with Blue-Grey Football to bring in the West Texas Regional, set for 1 p.m. Sunday, March 10, at El Paso High School, located at 800 East Schuster.

“We are very excited to have a football combine of this caliber take place in El Paso,” said Kennedy. “This will give our student-athletes the opportunity to showcase their talents and be seen across the nation.”

Blue-Grey Football is hosting more than 20 All-American Combines, Regional and Super levels, across the nation to give Class of 2020 to Class of 2022 student-athletes national exposure and an opportunity to learn from some of the NFL’s best.

When talking about football, the sport is king in Texas. That said, with plenty of talent located in El Paso and a genuine interest from many within the community, the brand’s administrators thought it was time to bring an All-American Combine to town,” said Sean Ceglinsky with Blue-Grey Football Operations.

“Once there, with a staff of NFL veterans in place to coach, the goal will be to provide invaluable instructions to student-athletes during the West Texas Regional, both on and off the field, for that matter. This is the start of something big in El Paso, not only this time around, but for years to come.”

Skills testing will include 40-yard dash, broad jump, bench press and shuttle, as well as individual drills with the former pros, followed by extended one-on-one sessions. A special meet-and-greet session for the student-athletes and their families with the combine coaches and staff will wrap up the event.

Official NFL Veteran Evaluations are then submitted on each participant, and names and stats are entered into a national database. NCAA top universities (Division I, II, III), NAIA and junior colleges all have access to this valuable data.

Some of the top student-athletes who do well during the All-American Combine can earn an invitation to the All-American Bowl, which is nationally broadcast on ESPN’s family of networks, and played at an NFL facility with NFL veteran coaches.

In the nearly 10-year history of the All-American Bowl, the venues have included Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium, Jacksonville Jaguars’ EverBank Field, Houston Texans’ NRG Stadium and Oakland Raiders’ Coliseum.

Student-athletes seeking to participate must first register for the West Texas Regional online. After registering, the participant must await invite-only approval from the Blue-Grey Football Selection Committee to attend; numbers are limited. The cost is $99.

The combine will feature a select traveling staff of NFL veterans, who will be serving as coaches, providing instruction to the student-athletes. Combines across the country have included the likes of George Teague (nine-year veteran with Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys); Mark McMillian (eight-year veteran with Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers); Randall Cunningham (16-year veteran with Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens); Mike Alstott (12-year veteran with Tampa Bay Buccaneers); Tony Casillas (12-year veteran with Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets); and so many others.

El Paso Baseball Hall of Famer and former El Paso Diablos leader Rick Parr is officially joining the El Paso Sports Commission team, taking the reins as president under CEO Brian Kennedy.

“We are very pleased to bring in someone of Rick’s caliber to join us in moving forward to help take El Paso and the El Paso Sports Commission to the forefront of entertainment and sports tourism,” Kennedy said. “His events and sports experience will add to a strong collaboration that will enhance our efforts, all in the best interest of making El Paso shine.”

The mission of the El Paso Sports Commission is to increase the influx of sports tourism dollars to the El Paso community through the creation of local tournaments, the enhancement of existing tournaments and by attracting regional, national and international events to the El Paso community.

The longtime non-profit organization, since 2003, also oversees the El Paso County Coliseum, which hosts close to 200 events yearly, and is considered the oldest and one of the most popular entertainment venues in the Southwest.

“I’m excited to be back in El Paso and joining the El Paso Sports Commission,” said Parr, who spent close to three decades in the Sun City at the beginning of his career. “Our focus is to make our community better and offer a great quality of life with exciting events, and I’m thankful that I can be part of it.”

Via a Wednesday news release, Sports Commission officials shared, “The highly-respected Parr brings with him an amazing résumé of experience, including his recent stint as president and national director of sales, as well as radio host, for America Matters Media in Reno, Nv. He also served as general manager for more than 30 years in Minor League Baseball in Triple-A with the Reno Aces in 2008-14 and the Tucson Sidewinders in 2001-08, and in Double-A with the El Paso Diablos in 1979-2001, taking over as president in 1996.”

Parr is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, where he was an Academic All-Western Athletic Conference football player and later a graduate assistant and assistant coach for the Miners.

Parr has earned numerous awards and honors, as well as several organization titles while with the El Paso Diablos, including the President’s Trophy (best overall operations), threetime McPhail Award (best promotions), Freitas Award (best overall operations and community commitment; Diablos were the first organization to receive the honor) and Organization of the Decade 1980-89 by Baseball America Magazine. Parr, alongside owner Jim Paul, set the standard in MiLB for many events, operations and promotions while with the Diablos.

Parr also was a member of the National Association/MiLB Licensing Committee, facilitated and helped implement the El Paso Professional Baseball Seminar, chairman of the Pacific Coast League Promotional Committee, hosted the International Baseball/Double-A All-Star Game and the 2013 Triple-A All-Star Game, and facilitated and helped implement the Promotional/Marketing Baseball Seminar for more than 25 years for MiLB, soccer and college executives.

Parr was inducted into the El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. He is married to Julie and the couple have two children: Lizzie, 15, and Joe, 13.