With the Finals approaching, we are happy to be able to release more details of the schedule for the NCL Youth Finals, spectator tickets and some important dates.

Based on the current number of confirmed competitors and the number we expect to reach at the end of the season, a rough schedule for the NCL Youth Finals will be as follows:

DRAFT SCHEDULE

Wednesday, October 4

Morning session:

• Kids Division – Stage 1
• Mature Kids Division – Stage 1

Lunch Break

Afternoon session:

• Pre-Teens Division – Stage 1
• Teens Division – Stage 1

Thursday, October 5

Morning session:

• Kids Division – Stage 2
• Mature Kids Division – Stage 2
• Kids Division – Stage 3
• Mature Kids Division – Stage 3

Lunch Break: Awards for Kids & Mature Kids Division

Afternoon session:

• Pre-Teens Division – Stage 2
• Teens Division – Stage 2
• Pre-Teens Division – Stage 3
• Teens Division – Stage 3
• Awards for Pre-Teens & Teens

Based on feedback from last year’s event, we have made some changes to the way the competition is structured.

Most notably, we’ll be splitting up the two youngest divisions and the two oldest divisions for stages 2 & 3. This means that if your child qualifies for Stage 3 on Thursday morning, you don’t have to stick around until Thursday afternoon or leave and come back later in the day for the awards presentations for their division.

Details around projected start times for each session will be released once all qualifiers have been held and we have a final number of competitors.

SPECTATOR TICKETS

Similarly, spectator tickets for the NCL Youth Finals 2023 will not be available for purchase until the list of competitors has been finalised.

In addition, we’ve streamlined the spectator ticket process, so instead of booking an individual ticket for each stage of each age division, you book a ticket for either the morning or afternoon session on each day and can come and go as you please in those sessions.

As with last year, each Finals competitor will be allowed to spectate the sessions for their age divisions on both days, whether they have made it to that stage or not, as well as being allowed a free ticket for a parent or guardian for the sessions they are competing in.

However, a competitor who is competing in the morning session on a given day will be required to purchase a spectator ticket to attend an afternoon session, and vice versa.

With a bigger venue at The Compound Training Bayswater, we’re able to increase the number of spectator tickets available to at least 200 for each session (not including the athletes themselves), but the space is not unlimited so we do have to charge to help us cover the costs of hiring additional toilet facilities and fencing.

As with last season, the NCL Youth Finals will again be livestreamed, but will be distributed privately for viewing by the parents and supporters of the competitors, instead of the broader public.

After the NCL Youth Finals have been completed, competitors will be given access to a high-quality version of their child’s run/s for personal use as they wish, including sharing on social media.

Select runs may also be shared on official NCL channels after the competition as well.

IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday, August 31:

• The deadline for eligible Youth Finals competitors to purchase a Finals ticket – no late entries will be accepted past this date, so be sure to book your Finals ticket before your plane tickets.
• The deadline to update your preferred T-shirt size for your exclusive NCL Finals ticket – this can be done in your profile on the Ninja Challenge League website. These shirts are included with your Finals ticket, so no exchanges or returns will be available if you forget to update your shirt size and it doesn’t fit – particularly important if your child has had a growth spurt in the past 12 months!
• The deadline to request a refund of your Finals ticket – this will only be issued if we are able to find an eligible replacement competitor before the deadline.

Friday, September 1:

• The day Finals T-shirt orders will be placed – absolutely no changes will be available after this.

Wednesday, September 6:

• Official run orders for Stage 1 of the NCL Youth Finals are released.

We will be providing more updates as the season progresses, particularly around access to the facility and parking options, but please reach out if you have questions about anything covered here.

As many of our ninja competitors and families will know, ninja athletes don’t get an opportunity to try the obstacles at the NCL Finals before their official run.

We keep the obstacles a secret until the day before to keep it in the spirit of the original Sasuke (Ninja Warrior) format and to test the problem-solving skills of our athletes.

That being said, this year we wanted to provide some hints as to some of the broad skills that competitors might need to succeed at the NCL Finals this year so they can train those transferable skills in the coming months and give themselves the best chance of hitting buzzers in October.

For those of you with a regular coach, we recommend asking them to help you train these skills so you develop a safe, efficient technique.

Youth skills:

• Breath control
• Swinging between different grips
• Agility
• Mid-air body control
• Precision placement of obstacle parts
• Trampoline technique
• Lache for distance
• Lache for speed
• Laches to different grips
• Balance rollers
• Precision dismounts
• Static and unstable balance
• Various salmon ladder techniques
• Hip mobility
• Warped wall technique

Adult skills:

• Trampoline technique
• Agility
• Hip mobility
• Mid-air body control
• Stable and unstable balance
• Balance rollers
• Lache for distance
• Lache for speed
• Lache to different grips
• Explosive leg power
• Cardiovascular fitness
• Shock absorption
• Salmon ladder control
• Lock-off strength
• One-arm hangs
• Pinch grip strength
• Open grip strength
• Precision dismounts
• Grip endurance
• Warped wall technique

Please note, this is not an exhaustive list!

Many of these are skills that athletes already work on – some of these skills that ninjas should work on but don’t train enough (balance, anyone?) – but hopefully this provides some focus for your Finals preparation.

You might not need every one of these skills on every stage, but working on these will be useful at some point in the competition if you make it far enough.

Last year, NSW ninja Casey McLaren became the first ninja to achieve Total Victory at an NCL Youth Finals in our history, but no athlete has finished all obstacles in the adult NCL Finals.

We hope this is the year we see someone climb that final mountain and make history.

We wish you good health in your training and can’t wait to see the results at this year’s NCL Finals.

If you haven’t qualified for the NCL Finals yet – we still have events in NSW, QLD and VIC remaining on the schedule.

The official course and rules for QLD Adult Ninja Challenge #3 on Saturday, August 19 at Urban Xtreme have been released!

Adults (15+) and Young Adults (born 2006-2008)

This is your last chance in Queensland to qualify for the NCL Finals this season, so be sure to sign up before registrations for adult competitors close at midnight on Wednesday, August 16: TICKETS

Contact Urban Xtreme for details on training the course ahead of the competition.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

The official results for NSW Youth Ninja Challenge #5 sponsored by OZIGRIP at Australian Warrior Fitness on Sunday, 16 July 2023.

Click the image to enlarge.

See how these results have affected the national leaderboard here.

Qualifying athletes will receive their official invitation to the NCL Youth Finals 2023 via email and some of the top runners will be featured on our social media channels.

The official results for SA Youth Ninja Challenge #5 sponsored by OZIGRIP at SA Base Camp on Saturday, 15 July 2023.

Click the image to enlarge.

See how these results have affected the national leaderboard here.

Qualifying athletes will receive their official invitation to the NCL Youth Finals 2023 via email and some of the top runners will be featured on our social media channels.

The official results for SA Adult Ninja Challenge #3 sponsored by OZIGRIP at SA Base Camp on Friday, 14 July 2023.

Click the image to enlarge.

See how these results have affected the national leaderboard here.

Qualifying athletes will receive their official invitation to the NCL Finals 2023 via email and some of the top runners will be featured on our social media channels.

The official results for VIC Adult Ninja Challenge #4 sponsored by OZIGRIP at Geelong Ninjas on Sunday, 9 July 2023.

Click the image to enlarge.

See how these results have affected the national leaderboard here.

Qualifying athletes will receive their official invitation to the NCL Finals 2023 via email and some of the top runners will be featured on our social media channels.

The official results for QLD Adult Ninja Challenge #2 sponsored by OZIGRIP at Mr Ninja HQ on Saturday, 8 July 2023.

Click the image to enlarge.

See how these results have affected the national leaderboard here.

Qualifying athletes will receive their official invitation to the NCL Finals 2023 via email and some of the top runners will be featured on our social media channels.

The official results for VIC Youth Ninja Challenge #5 sponsored by OZIGRIP at Geelong Ninjas on Sunday, 9 July 2023.

Click the image to enlarge.

 

See how these results have affected the national leaderboard here.

Qualifying athletes will receive their official invitation to the NCL Youth Finals 2023 via email and some of the top runners will be featured on our social media channels.

The official course and rules have been released for NSW Youth Ninja Challenge #5 at Australian Warrior Fitness on Sunday, July 16.

Kids (born 2015-16) and Mature Kids (born 2013-14) Course

Pre-Teens (born 2011-12) and Teens (born 2009-10) Course

Registrations close at midnight on Sunday, July 9, so be sure to sign up before then: TICKETS

On the day of the competition, competitors will have 15 minutes to train the course before the start of their division. Some of the obstacles will also be available to train during AWF’s school holidays clinics – see their website for more details.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.