Competition Leagues

The competitive league landscape has become increasingly crowded the last few years. Historically we competed in UNAA only. In recent years WNL has gained a lot more interest from teams and athletes. Part of this is due to their Tier structure for athletes allowing for a more level playing field for athletes. To add to this the USA Ninja Challenge Corporate ran a late season tournament last year and has now expanded that to a full season league.

We completely understand that this can be overwhelming and are working to determine what league(s) are the best for our team and athletes to focus on. We will keep you updated on any decisions that are made.

This video is a great primer to understand how competitive Ninja has developed over the last decade:

https://youtu.be/ncrx2yI_Tb8?si=MN97BGz6YLozjpKE

UNAA - Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association

https://www.ultimateninja.net/ - Main Page

https://smart.bio/ultimate_ninja_athlete/ - All the UNAA Links you need

https://www.ultimateninja.net/schedule - Direct to the official competition list

You must be 6 or older to compete in UNAA. Age is determined on how old they are on January 1, 2026 or year of Finals event, for ALL age groups.

BIG NEWS FOR SEASON 11!!

More qualifying opportunities and New Rules for Finals Qualifying!!

Area Qualifiers will continue to be TOP 3 or 50%, move on to Regionals.

But NOW, Top 5 or 30% move on from Regionals to Finals!!

ALSO, there will be Two Prelim runs at UNAA World Finals, so now athletes are guaranteed Two runs minimum at UNAA World Finals!

SEASON 11 UNAA WORLD FINALS

TOP 15 or 30% (whichever is Greater) now move on from Prelims to Main event Finals.

TWO Prelim runs will be used to determine who moves on to the Main Event Finals. Best of the two Prelims runs will be used to determine the TOP 15 or 30%.

ELITE & AMATEUR KIDS CLASSES

The season will remain the same for kid’s classes, but there will be a separation into two groups at the UNAA World Finals. All athletes will compete in 2 pre-lim runs which will determine who moves on to the Main Event Finals.

The Top 15 or 30% will move on as the Elite Kids Class
From the remaining athletes, the next Top 15 or 30% will move on as the Amateur Kids Class.

Prelim waves will continue to have a randomized run order although now athletes will run their 2 prelim runs within the same wave.

EXAMPLE:

For an age class with 100 athletes, the following would happen after all the waves are complete:

The top 15 or 30% moves on as the Elite Kids Class which would be 30 athletes (pre-lim leaderboard places 1-30)
Of the remaining 70 athletes, top 15 or 30% moves on as the Amateur class which would be 21 athletes (pre-lim leaderboard places 31-51)

There will be an awards ceremony recognizing the Top 10 athletes in both the Elite Kids Class and Amateur Kids Class. The additional class allows for more athletes to be recognized and medal in the Top 10. The Amateur Kids class will not receive cash prize awards.

FULL UPDATED RULES FOR SEASON 11 WILL BE AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE AFTER AUGUST 1st.

https://www.ultimateninja.net/rules

Level -

All U15
Amateur (16+)
Intermediate (16+)
Pro (16+)

Age -

U7
U9
U11
U13
U15

UNAA Course Formats / Basic Rules:

UNAA and USANC run the same format of course and rules

Only one course format and one set of rules for these leagues

Course Rules: (Link)

There will be a maximum of 3 Fails per course. After 3 Fails, the athlete’s run is over for scoring points. They may finish the course but will not receive points for the remaining obstacles. Their time will end with the last Obstacle Completed. Each Obstacle will be worth 1 point for full completion. For more difficult obstacles, each obstacle can be worth 2 points and have a halfway point, which must be clearly marked with a tape mark or other. Completion of halfway is worth 1 point and is NOT considered a Fail, but a 1 point Completion.

Score is then determined by points gained, and time of full run. Points are the highest priority when determining final score with time being a second priority. Most points, with the fastest time wins.

WNL - World Ninja League

https://worldninjaleague.org/

To register for a competition your athlete will need an Athlete ID - Here https://worldninjaleague.org/athleteid/

Registration for individual event can be done using the links on the WNL schedule pages this can be accessed through the new combined calendar Here

Your athlete will be assigned a Tier/Division to run in for WNL based on their skill level and age (tier 1 or 2). We recommend to stay in the tier given for the duration of the season. If your athlete has been designated as tier 1 ONLY, they are NOT allowed to compete at the tier 2 level.

Your athlete’s age will go by how old they are as of January 1, 2026.

Tiers -

Tier 2 - More introductory level for newer Ninjas

Tier 1 - Highly competitive level for seasoned Ninjas

Premiere - Invite only post regular season competition

Age Divisions -

Kids - 6-8
Mature Kids 9-10
Preteens 11-12
Teens 13-14
Young Adults 15-17

WNL Course Formats / Basic Rules:

Flow - (Link) Known as one and done. Once an Athlete fails an obstacle their points and timing stop for scoring purposes. They are allowed to use the rest of the time on the clock to continue the course but will not gain any additional points. Courses are generally set between 2 ½ and 3 ½ minutes. (New comp team members should not be worried about doing this as a first comp - They will get to run their full time and will be grouped with athletes that are at the same level and many re new to Ninja as well. All Ninja's fall, no matter what level !! Just ask our Tier Varsity kids 😁 )

Challenge - (Link) Athletes are allowed to retry two obstacles per Challenge Course. However, athletes may only retry a failed obstacle one time. The athlete must complete the failed obstacle on their subsequent attempt in order to progress through the course. Once the athlete has used up their 2 retries or fails a retry attempt, the run is over. They are allowed to use the rest of the time on the clock to continue the course but will not gain any additional points.Course are generally set between 2 ½ and 3 ½ minutes.

Full - (Link) Athletes are able to attempt all obstacles once, within the run time limit, with no limit to the number of obstacles failed. Points are awarded for how fast obstacles are completed and how difficult those obstacles are based on the number of athletes that failed the obstacle. The more athletes that fail an obstacle the more difficulty points it is assigned for that course.

USANC - USA Ninja Challenge Championship

USANC COMP

This is the USA Ninja Challenge Franchise only league that was just started last year.

Registration for these events is done using the Ninja Master App site

Your athlete’s age will go by how old they are as of Sept 1 2025

Level -

Novice (USANC Level 1-2)
Intermediate (USANC Level 3-4)
Elite (USANC Level 5-6)

Age -

U8
U12
U17

USANC Course Formats / Basic Rules:

USANC and UNAA run the same format of course and rules,

Only one course format and one set of rules for these leagues.

Course Rules: (Link)

There will be a maximum of 3 Fails per course. After 3 Fails, the athlete’s run is over for scoring points. They may finish the course but will not receive points for the remaining obstacles. Their time will end with the last Obstacle Completed. Each Obstacle will be worth 1 point for full completion. For more difficult obstacles, each obstacle can be worth 2 points and have a halfway point, which must be clearly marked with a tape mark or other. Completion of halfway is worth 1 point and is NOT considered a Fail, but a 1 point Completion.

Score is then determined by points gained, and time of full run. Points are the highest priority when determining final score with time being a second priority. Most points, with the fastest time wins.