TA Weymouth
NINJA TEAM INFO
2023-2024 SEASON
Ninja teams at TA
Over the years we have all pushed hard to make the sport of "ninja" a team sport that kids can join and grow with. It started with Jen and Dave hand picking 7 kids to wear matching shirts and travel to local events together. From there, it took off.
NEW ENGLAND NINJA ASSOCIATION VARSITY (NENA VARSITY)
VARSITY 2023-2024 SEASON DATES
Oct 8th @ TA Weymouth
Nov 4th @ TA Weymouth
Dec 3rd @ Gymja Warrior Peabody
Jan 6th @ TA Weymouth
Feb 3rd @ Action Athletes Wellesley
Mar 2nd @ Laidback Fitness (Warwick, RI)
NENA JUNIOR VARSITY TEAM
JUNIOR VARSITY 2023-2024 SEASON DATES
11/4 @ Vitality
12/9 @TA Weymouth
1/14 @ Strive
2/4 @ TA Plymouth
Other Ninja League
BURNOUT/ OVERTRAINING
Burnout is the cool word for overtraining/ over worked. I am sure many adults have felt this after a few tough weeks of work. It is very real in youth sports as well. You will see if manifest in a so many ways ranging from change in attitude towards the team/ their performance to irritability/ tantrums to fatigue/ increase in injuries/ sport related complaints about pain. We strive to keep burnout to a minimum. We want all our athletes to love ninja for the long haul. You can help this by supporting them no matter the outcome of practices/ meets and allowing time for other hobbies/ sports. Remember just cause they are in the gym every chance they get, doesn't mean they are getting the best out of their time in the sport.
Ninja Shoes!
Just a quick touch on shoes. The bottom should be made of one solid piece of rubber or as few pieces as possible. Shoes should be on the flatter with little to no raised parts. They should have some flexibility to them. Basketball sneakers are bad, foam bottom shoes are terrible, and crocs are the worse. Your child gets one pass on wearing crocs “by accident”. Second time, they sit for class.
NEW ENGLAND NINJA ASSOCIATION VARSITY (NENA VARSITY)
- Overview- Across New England, 8 gyms came together to form a league that not only helps prepare competitors for the growing difficulty of ninja competition across the country but to build an underlining team aspect to promote the growth of the sport for children from ages 6-17. In 2022, NENA has now expanded 19 total gyms!
- Format- For the 2023-2024 season NENA will stay a 1 gym vs 1 gym format. The age groups will stay the same (6-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17). Each age group will be limited to 24 competitors, 12 from each gym. Scoring will stay the same with the top 10 scoring points for their team except the tie breaker will come down to overall team points across all age groups. NENA meets will stay the two-stage format is has been known for.
- Competition Schedule- The 2023-2024 dates are below.
- What are the requirements?
- Attend 6 meets and playoff meet(s)- we understand there is circumstances and unforeseen events but all participants are expected to make their very best effort to all 6 meets plus additional playoff meets that run once a month from October to March
- Make 75% of practices between meets- the number of practices between meets varies so the number will vary as well. We will always round up to include the extra day. Participants are expected to not miss the two practices before a scheduled meet, though obvious exceptions are made
- Come in for an additional Open Gym Workout- this will be on weekends there is no meet. The NENA week starts each Monday. This means the weekend workout is expected to be done between Friday- Sunday.
- Move a member to the "bench" to not compete at the next meet.
- Give a spot at the next meet to a Junior Varsity Team member.
- Class times- Sticking to the overlap, this allows us to work with the younger/older age groups on skills they need but also allows them to all come together to train as a whole team. Our Varsity Team officially begins their season on September 11th, 2023.
- Classes are Monday and Wednesday
- 6-10 yr olds are from 4:45-6:15pm
- 11-17 yr olds are from 5:30-7:15pm
- Classes are Monday and Wednesday
VARSITY 2023-2024 SEASON DATES
Oct 8th @ TA Weymouth
Nov 4th @ TA Weymouth
Dec 3rd @ Gymja Warrior Peabody
Jan 6th @ TA Weymouth
Feb 3rd @ Action Athletes Wellesley
Mar 2nd @ Laidback Fitness (Warwick, RI)
NENA JUNIOR VARSITY TEAM
- What is NENA JV?
In it’s second year, we are excited to offer the team aspect of ninja to more children across our ninja community. With a shorter season running from Nov-Feb, it allows participants to gain experience and strength prior to their first meet of the season.
- What to expect at a JV meet?
Each meet will include the same scoring system used for Varsity but instead of 1 facility vs 1 facility, it will be 4 facilities at one location with similar scoring as Varsity. This season JV has expanded to 8 athletes per age group per team. Similar to the varsity scoring, the top 10 after stage 2 will score points towards their team score. The obstacle/ course difficulty will be beginner to moderate level to allow participants to excel and gain experience in the sport of ninja while again having appropriate variations for each age group. - What are the requirements?
- Attend set number of meets- there will be four meets for this season of JV.
- Make 75% of practices between meets- the number of practices between meets varies so the number will vary as well. We will always round up to include the extra day. Participants are expected to not miss the two practices before a scheduled meet, though obvious exceptions are made
- Class Schedule- The class times are as followed and our first class begins on September 12th, 2023
- Tuesday and Thursdays 6-715pm for all ages
JUNIOR VARSITY 2023-2024 SEASON DATES
11/4 @ Vitality
12/9 @TA Weymouth
1/14 @ Strive
2/4 @ TA Plymouth
Other Ninja League
- World Ninja League (WNL formally NNL)
- Multiple difficult levels (2) across multiple formats (4) with regional/ nationals
- Very individually based with many, many, MANY competitions hosted locally including TA Plymouth
- Competition quality is vastly different from comp to comp, hosting facility to hosting facility
- Can become a rabbit hole that you will never get to the bottom of
- Federation of International Ninja Athletes (FINA)
- All skill levels across two formats with regional/ nationals
- “You vs the course” based
- Few competitions locally (mostly hosted by TA Weymouth)
- Other Leagues: UNAA, NSC/ NSN, WNL Premier League, In-houses at other gyms
BURNOUT/ OVERTRAINING
Burnout is the cool word for overtraining/ over worked. I am sure many adults have felt this after a few tough weeks of work. It is very real in youth sports as well. You will see if manifest in a so many ways ranging from change in attitude towards the team/ their performance to irritability/ tantrums to fatigue/ increase in injuries/ sport related complaints about pain. We strive to keep burnout to a minimum. We want all our athletes to love ninja for the long haul. You can help this by supporting them no matter the outcome of practices/ meets and allowing time for other hobbies/ sports. Remember just cause they are in the gym every chance they get, doesn't mean they are getting the best out of their time in the sport.
Ninja Shoes!
Just a quick touch on shoes. The bottom should be made of one solid piece of rubber or as few pieces as possible. Shoes should be on the flatter with little to no raised parts. They should have some flexibility to them. Basketball sneakers are bad, foam bottom shoes are terrible, and crocs are the worse. Your child gets one pass on wearing crocs “by accident”. Second time, they sit for class.
2023-2024 No Practice Holidays
Varsity Team
Columbus Day- No practice
Thanksgiving Eve- Optional December break- No practice |
JV Team
Halloween- No practice
Thanksgiving- No practice December break- No practice |
The whole coaching staff knows there is so much information to read within this. As always if you have any questions please direct them to Dave. Thank you for your continued support through everything. These gyms would not be here without you and your families.
~TA Fitness Coaching Staff
~TA Fitness Coaching Staff