Who will be named Canada’s top ninjas? The answer to that question will be answered this weekend as Langley Events Centre hosts the Canadian Ninja League (CNL) National Finals.
Competitors from across Canada will converge on Langley Events Centre October 7 to 9 as they vie for the respective titles up for grabs over three days of competition.
“We are proud of the diversity of events hosted at Langley Events Centre and it is great to continue adding new and unique events such as this. It is exciting to be a part of such a major event for this budding sport and we look forward to assisting in creating a successful program,” said Tyler Dinwoodie, Associate Director, Production Services & Communications for Langley Events Centre.
Altogether, there are 245 competitors taking part in categories (6-8 kids, 9-10 kids, 11-12 kids, 13-14 girls, 13-14 boys, 15-17 girls, 15-17 boys, amateur women, amateur men, Masters 40+ women and Masters 40+ men).
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“These competitors are well-rounded athletes, and this sport requires a lot of full body-awareness, agility, coordination, balance, strength and grip strength,” said Ryan Chow, a co-founder of the CNL alongside his brother Michael. “But this sport is also about being adaptable to what is in front of you.”
The sport involves competitors navigating obstacle courses of varying degrees of difficulty where they score points based on how many obstacles they can complete and how quickly they do so. Some of the challenges that await them include swivelling wooden structures, crooked barriers, ascending or descending obstacles, balance beams and rolling PVC pipes, to name a few.
“There’s no real definition of what an obstacle has to be,” Chow explained. “It’s about making obstructions creative and fun. There are a million obstacles you can create and when someone puts an obstruction in your way, you have to ask yourself ‘how am I going to get through this?’”
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The format for the Nationals will see competitors divided by age group and gender, with preliminary runs set for October 7 and 8 to see who will advance to the finals on October 9. In the finals, competitors will be graded by their score and time – points are scored each time an obstacle is completed. And at stake will be more than just bragging rights as the top 15 Canadian athletes in each age/gender category will earn a qualifying spot to the 2023 World Ninja League Championships, which are set for June 23-25 in Greensboro, NC.
The competition will take place in the Fieldhouse at Langley Events Centre, beginning at 9:00am on Friday. The first day also features opening ceremonies (11:15am to 12:15pm) with an awards ceremony set for Sunday beginning at 4:30pm.
Tickets can be purchased for this event at www.showpass.com/cnl-national-finals and it can be streamed for free at www.tfsetv.ca. For more on the sport and the event, please visit www.canadianninjaleague.org.
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