PROVE YOUR MOVES
PROVE YOUR MOVES
To participate in the ANO, competitors must first qualify for the ANO Ninja Draft by taking on Stage One of the NCL Finals.
For NCL Finals competitors, their Stage One result will be used to determine their eligibility.
After Stage One, the top 12 female athletes across all divisions will be named as team captains. The top 36 competitors across all divisions (excluding team captains), will be entered into the Ninja Draft.
All rounds of the ANO will use the Relay Format, which sees four athletes from each team work together to defeat an eight-obstacle course.
The team captain will assign each athlete to a starting spot at the beginning of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th obstacles.
The athletes will attempt to clear their pair of obstacles in order and tag the next team member. Once an athlete tags the next competitor on their team, they cannot attempt any further obstacles.
If an athlete fails an obstacle, the next athlete in the order will have to make their way to the start of the failed obstacle from their starting platform and attempt to complete those obstacles in addition to their own until they reach the next athlete’s starting position.
If the replacement athlete also fails an obstacle, the next team member in the order attempts the obstacle until all athletes have failed an obstacle or completed the course.
Teams have to think carefully about where they place each athlete – do you put your best athlete at the end so they can bail out the rest of the team or do you put them on the obstacle they are best at regardless of where it sits on the course?
The relay format is about strategy is much as it is about strength and skill.
The Seeding Round will see all 12 teams take on the same course to determine seeding, with the top eight teams progressing to the Elite Eight and bottom four teams eliminated.
The run order for the Seeding Round will be determined based on the ranking of the Team Captain – with the top-ranked Team Captain running last in the Seeding Round.
After the Seeding Round, the remaining teams will be paired up with another team in an elimination match, with the winner from those two teams progressing to the next stage and the loser being eliminated, following a bracket/tennis draw structure.
In all Knockout Rounds, the lower seed in each match-up will always run first and the higher seed will run second.
There will be a new course for each round.
The Elimination Rounds are as follows:
If a team is issued a red flag by an NCL official for failing an obstacle or breaking a rule, they may request a review of the ruling by the NCL Commissioner if they believe the call was incorrect.
If a team is issued a yellow flag by an NCL official, it means that the official is uncertain whether a rule was broken and will check the video footage to make a final call afterwards. The video footage must show clear evidence of breaking a rule or failing an obstacle, otherwise no infraction will be issued and the run will stand.
If an NCL official does not issue a yellow flag during a team’s run, they cannot check the video footage afterwards to alter the competitor’s official result. Essentially, if a run has no flags, there will be no review.
The only exception to this is when an NCL official is also a competitor, in which case the NCL Commissioner may review their run as a neutral party before finalising results.
What is the Australia Ninja Open?
The Australian Ninja Open is the Ninja Challenge League’s team competition format – a high-octane relay competition that requires strategy, skill and strength to succeed.
When is the Australian Ninja Open?
The Australian Ninja Open takes place alongside the NCL Finals on 4-5 October 2025. Stage One and the Ninja Draft will take place on Saturday 4 October, while the team competitions will take place after the conclusion of Stage Three on Sunday 5 October.
Where is the Australian Ninja Open?
This year’s Australian Ninja Open will be hosted at Geelong Ninjas in Victoria.
If I already have a ticket to the NCL Finals 2025, do I need to purchase an additional ticket to take part in the Australian Ninja Open?
No. All NCL Finals competitors are automatically entered into the Australian Ninja Open at no extra charge, but they will still need to place highly enough on Stage One of the NCL Finals to be entered into the Ninja Draft.
What makes the Australian Ninja Open different from other team competitions?
What sets the ANO apart from other team ninja competitions is the way teams are formed. We’ve all been to team competitions where you show up to the event and one team is absolutely stacked with the best ninjas in the country who train together that almost always wins.
The ANO solves that problem by borrowing from a tried and true approach to parity used in most professional team sports (and fantasy sports leagues) – an athlete draft!
Instead of the signing up as a team, athletes enter the Australian Ninja Open as an individual and captains take turns picking ninja athletes to fill out their teams on the day of competition.
Using a snake draft system where the draft order reverses every round, it means if the captain chooses wisely, every team should have a fair chance at success – making for a much more fun competition.
It also means that each year of competition is unique – as teams will be different every year.
How does the relay format work?
The Relay Format sees four athletes from each team work together to defeat an eight-obstacle course.
The team captain assigns each athlete to a starting spot at the beginning of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th obstacles.
The athletes will attempt to clear their pair of obstacles in order and tag the next team member. Once an athlete tags the next competitor on their team, they cannot attempt any further obstacles.
If an athlete fails an obstacle, the next athlete in the order will have to make their way to the start of the failed obstacle from their starting platform and attempt to complete those obstacles in addition to their own until they reach the next athlete’s starting position.
If the replacement athlete also fails an obstacle, the next team member in the order attempts the obstacle until all athletes have failed an obstacle or completed the course.
Teams have to think carefully about where they place each athlete – do you put your best athlete at the end so they can bail out the rest of the team or do you put them on the obstacle they are best at regardless of where it sits on the course?
The relay format is about strategy as much as it is about strength and skill.
That all sounds a bit confusing, can I see it in action?
Absolutely! We promise it will make sense once you see it – here are some of our favourite runs from past events:
You can also check out the Australian Ninja Open 2024, 2023 or 2021 in full:
How many rounds will there be this year?
There will be one seeding round, followed by three rounds of team vs team elimination matches using a bracket system.
Do I automatically get through to the Australian Ninja Open with my ticket?
No, you’ll get a chance to earn a spot in the Ninja Draft by taking on Stage One of the Ninja Challenge League Finals.
Then how many people get through from Stage One and how many teams will there be?
A select 48 competitors! That includes team captains and three team members in each team. Of the 48 total spots, 12 are reserved for team captains, with the remaining 36 for team members.
How will the captains be chosen?
Last year, we made the top-performing Masters from Stage One captains as it was the first year they were included as a separate division. This year, we’re making the top-performing female athletes on Stage One across all divisions the team captains.