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The competitive ninja scene has experienced remarkable growth over the past decade, and the World Ninja League has been a pivotal force in this evolution, guiding thousands of athletes on their ninja journeys. As we enter the league’s landmark 10th season, we are thrilled to reflect on our origins and celebrate the incredible journey from our humble beginnings to this extraordinary milestone.
The ninja landscape in the early years of the sport were very different then what we experience today. The first ninja training facility did not arrive until 2011. For the next four years, a handful of gyms would start to pop up across the country. Ninja gyms were still few and far between when the League was founded in 2015.
The World Ninja League was originally founded as the National Ninja League and was a collaborative effort between the original 13 ninja gyms that was spearheaded by League President Chris Wilczewski. At the time, each of the original gym owners had a seat on an advisory board that helped support the growth and development of the sport.
In the early years of the League, each season would culminate with a Championship competition hosted at one of the ninja gyms within the League’s network. Originally the Championship competition was branded the NNL Finals. It wasn’t until the League’s fifth season that the competition moved into a venue and the branding changed to the World Ninja League Championships.
There are still some veteran ninjas that will to this day refer to the league’s Championship event as the NNL Finals. When the World Ninja League team launched Premier Series in 2023, the team wanted to brand the elite ninja series Championship event the Premier Series Finals as a tribute to league’s humble beginnings.
The fifth season of the League proved to be a pivot moment for the sport. The League’s Championships successful jump from ninja gym to professional venue lead to an explosion of participation in the sport. The next five years the sport experienced hundreds of new ninja gyms and thousands of athletes entering into the sport.
The incredible growth in the ninja community has allowed the League to expand and provide more resources to the community that make the sport more accessible and provide better experiences year after year.
As the League ushers in its monumental 10th Season, the World Ninja League Team is excited to share some incredible opportunities for the ninja community in the upcoming Season X.
Head to Head competitions in ninja have grown increasingly popular in recent years. The ninja vs. ninja competition format has made its way into the televised Reality TV version of the sport and has been taunted for inclusion as a discipline of the modern pentathlon in the 2028 Olympics.
The World Ninja League team is excited to bring the first global head to head competition series to the ninja community this year. All organizations within the World Ninja League’s network have been invited to host Head to Head competitions this season.
Head to Head will be its own standalone competition circuit with qualifying, stat tracking, and even power scores all being unique to an athletes participation at Head to Head Specific competition.
The competition series already has dozens of the community’s top ninja facilities committed to hosting Head to Head competitions. The competition series will culminate with an exclusive World Championship competition hosted by world class ninja facility Ninja Mania in Davenport, CT.
More information on head to head can be found on the Head to Head information page.
Top athletes in each region will be invited to participate in their region’s All-Star competition. This mid-season classic is designed to recognize and support the top athletes from the first half of the season.
Athletes named to the All-Star team can look forwarded to competing in these fun, high-profile competitions. All-Star competitions will provide athletes multiple opportunities to show off their ninja skills and prove why they’re an All-Star ninja.
More information on All-Star competitions can be found on the All-Star information page.
Every year, the talent of the next generation of ninjas continues to grow. Today, the top athletes in the sport are younger than ever. The success of our communities’ youth athletes rivals that of other extreme sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, or gymnastics.
Season X will introduce new age division rules that support our talented youth community. Starting this season, athletes 13 and up will be welcome to bring their talents to the Elite division. Additionally, athletes who are 12 and younger may choose to further challenge themselves by competing up one division from their current age division.
This exciting new change will provide top athletes the opportunity for continued growth and allow room for new stars to rise to the top of the league’s youngest divisions. More information on age divisions can be found here.
Season X is still weeks away, and it’s already shaping up the deliver some incredible experiences for the ninja community. Community members can find Season X schedules for Tier 1, Tier 2, and Head to Head by using the links below.
The entire World Ninja League team looks forward to celebrating a decade of incredible ninja experiences with the community this year. Best of luck to all athletes, coaches, gyms and all of the incredibly supportive members of our amazing community this year. We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the course.
-The World Ninja League Team
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