'Ninja Warrior' stars to attack Delaware ninja playground soon. How to get involved

CLARIFICATION: Neighborhood Ninjas has raised money for the NinjaFit Playground in collaboration with the Wilmington Delaware Area Rotary Clubs Community Fund, a nonprofit that includes four Rotary Clubs. 

"American Ninja Warrior" stars, including one whose parents live in Delaware, will display their talents in Wilmington on a new community ninja playground set to debut this spring. 

But first, local volunteers are needed to build the NinjaFit Playground at Alapocas Run State Park near Wilmington on Saturday, April 27. 

Here's what you need to know about the volunteer build day, as well as the grand-opening event set to launch a few weeks after.  

What is the NinjaFit Playground build day? 

The nonprofit Neighborhood Ninjas is launching its first NinjaFit Playground in Delaware. 

No experience is necessary to help.

Volunteers must be 16 or older to build. Younger people can assist with waivers, food and photography. Sign-in is from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 27.  

If anyone is certified to operate a Bobcat and wants to help, or can rake super heavy stone, that will probably be happening from 1 to 4 p.m., said Alex Katz, director of Neighborhood Ninjas. 

President Whitney Miller of Wilmington, who competed on seasons 13 and 14 of “American Ninja Warrior,” said they’re leaning on community volunteers to build the playground because it’s for them.  

Who are the Neighborhood Ninjas? 

The nonprofit uses the sport of ninja warrior to help "underserved youth develop active lifestyles, confidence, connection, compassion and resilience," according to the organization's mission statement.   

What is a ninja playground? 

This free NinjaFit Playground is intended for adults and teens ages 13 or older (although younger kids can use it, too), and it features replicas of obstacles that fans have seen on "American Ninja Warrior" including cargo nets, quad steps and the rope climb.  

The playground features a total of 15 obstacles: unstable bridge, wheel bridge, spider walk, vertical cargo net, pep bridge, rope climb, over under bars, quintuple steps, ledge hanger, angled overhead ladder 1 and 2, angled balance beam, globe grasp, A-frame cargo net and high step.  

The NinjaFit Playground was designed by a team of ninja athletes and coaches with the intent to serve multiple ability levels from "the beginner who can't even hang for 5 seconds yet, to somebody who has been competing at an elite level for years," Katz said.   

Why is a ninja playground needed? 

The playground is purposed to promote physical activity and provide free fitness to underserved Wilmington residents, Miller said. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 27% of adults in Delaware were physically inactive, based on a survey of data collected from 2017 to 2020.   

The plan is also for free bi-monthly classes to be offered to show people how to use the equipment, Katz said.  

How much will it cost?  

Last spring Delaware Online/The News Journal reported the NinjaFit Playground was estimated to cost $200,000.  

Since then, Katz said the project will now feature pour-in-place rubber flooring, instead of a surface made of the mulch they were previously considering. She said the current estimate for the playground is roughly $270,000. 

Neighborhood Ninjas has raised the money in collaboration with Wilmington Delaware Area Rotary Clubs Community Fund, a nonprofit that includes four Rotary Clubs: Brandywine Hundred, Brandywine Naamans, Wilmington and Caesar Rodney.   

Additional support from the project includes money from the Longwood Foundation, and roughly $50,000 in state grants, Katz said.  

While Katz said they have enough to cover the cost of the playground, they're trying to figure out how to pay for upkeep and programming of classes that they're offering for free to the public. She said it'd be great if they could raise an additional $30,000 by the end of May. Interested donors can email Katz at alex@neighborhoodninjas.org.   

'American Ninja Warrior' stars come to Delaware 

The grand opening for the playground will feature celebrity appearances and a course run by fan favorites from "American Ninja Warrior" at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 18. Attendees will even have the chance to hit a real buzzer like on the show and learn how to use the new playground. 

Some of the guests for the event include "Ninja Warrior" stars Jamie Rahn (whose parents live in Seaford), Jessie Graff and Ginny MacColl, who is Graff's 72-year-old ninja mom. 

Last September, when MacColl was 71, she was recognized as the Guinness World Records leader for oldest competitive ninja athlete (female). 

Whitney said it's important to have MacColl come to the grand opening.  

"She's coming because we want grandparents [in Wilmington] to be able to see themselves on this equipment as well," she explained. 

Jamie Rahn has family in Delaware

Rahn is looking forward to being in Delaware for the grand opening because it gives him a chance to celebrate with the community, plus show off his 1-year-old son to his parents who live in SoDel. 

Rahn (who grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and now lives in Troy, Missouri) has competed on all but two of the 16 seasons of "American Ninja Warrior." He's nicknamed Captain NBC and is famous for wearing green-colored hair like the superhero Captain Planet. 

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The ninja competitor is also a coach in the sport who said it's good for new ninja athletes to take small steps and continue to push themselves to work their way up to doing challenging moves.  

"Can you jump 2 feet across the ground? Cool. Can you do 2½ feet? ... Can you do it on a bar and can you totally make it more and more difficult or intimidating until you eventually get to that goal that you're looking for," Rahn explained. 

As a reminder, Whitney said they can’t have the grand opening unless volunteers assemble the playground.  

“We would love the community to come out and help us put it together,” she said. “It's important because that's how we're building it, through community volunteer effort.”  

Anyone interested in volunteering for the NinjaFit Playground can sign up at this link (here). 

If you have an interesting story idea, email lifestyle reporter Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com. Consider signing up for his weekly newsletter, DO Delaware, at delawareonline.com/newsletters.