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Nov 08, 2024

Sioux Center Ninja Warrior event hosted | Sioux Center News | nwestiowa.com

Seven-year-old Oliver McCord leaps over the hurdles in the early part of the obstacle course set up for the “Sioux Cetner Ninja Warrior” night hosted by Sioux Center Recreation Monday. More than 200

Seven-year-old Oliver McCord leaps over the hurdles in the early part of the obstacle course set up for the “Sioux Cetner Ninja Warrior” night hosted by Sioux Center Recreation Monday. More than 200 children signed up for the new event, inspired by “American Ninja Warrior.”

SIOUX CENTER—Sioux Center Recreation hosted the town’s first-ever “Sioux Center Ninja Warriors” event at the American State Bank Sports Complex Monday, Nov. 4.

This obstacle course competition event contained two identical courses, featuring a balance beam, hurdles, sled pull, army crawl, high jump pit and more, modeled after the TV show “American Ninja Warrior.”

It gained a solid following with 205 first- through eighth-grade children signed up for the event.

“I’ve had the idea for a few years of some sort of kid obstacle course, but we didn’t always have the right venue for it with hard gym floors,” said city recreation director Doug Mosher. “Then the dome came about, and we thought that it might be a controlled environment with softer flooring; it might work there.”

Mosher worked with the American State Bank Sports Complex to reserve a date for the event and then partnered with Carter Jacobson, owner of Snap Fitness, to design the course and Trent Roose, associate athletic director at Dordt, to gather the equipment and organize the event.

Jacobson found inspiration for the course design from watching his children playing on the equipment at Snap Fitness and other obstacle course-type events he’s designed in the past.

“I have an 8-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, and when we bring them to the gym here, it’s like a forbidden playground,” said Jacobson. “I developed from that and things I’ve done with kids in the past a course that will try to challenge them physically and mentally.”

Components of the obstacle course, like the Bosu balls, will help children practice body awareness and balance, while the sled pull will require strength and agility. Mosher and Jacobson’s sons tested out the course over the weekend and gave it a stamp of approval.

“Almost none of them have probably done something like this anywhere, so it will give them something different, something out of the box for them to try,” said Mosher.

Mosher is grateful for the American State Bank Sports Complex as a place to hopefully host more events like this in the future.

“It’s good to be out and active in the community; we have a great facility here, so we want to use it and have people in the community that haven’t been there yet to see it and the different things it can host,” said Mosher.

The American State Bank Sports complex is often used by various community organizations, making it difficult to find a time to book the space for the “Sioux Center Ninja Warriors” event.

“Having an open date in the dome and trying to put in on a night when there’s the least amount of school and church activities. We only had a few days to pick from, but it worked out,” said Mosher.

With the dome being used for sports practices earlier on Monday afternoon, “We had a small window to get both courses set up,” said Mosher.

Roose coordinated with Dordt University Baseball and Softball teams, who volunteered to monitor the event, timing the participants and resetting the courses between contestants.

“I don’t know if I’d have been able to do it alone, so having those guys is great,” said Mosher.

All involved hope the event can become an annual tradition.

“It’s the look on the kids’ faces; I get a kick out of watching the kids work hard, have fun, and find joy in fitness and activities; it’s hopefully building a foundation for healthy bodies,” said Jacobson.

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