Lee — As with many folks around the globe, Lee resident Josh Bloom was stuck inside during the pandemic, as were his two young daughters, five-year-old Goldie Gordon-Bloom and seven-year-old Lola Gordon-Bloom, with the crew searching for activities to keep their minds and bodies sharp. They stumbled upon Ninja Warrior obstacle training, with Bloom building a course of climbing walls, monkey bars, and swings in their basement. After COVID-19 restrictions eased, the girls wanted to continue training, so Bloom traveled an hour-plus to the nearest facilities—in Albany or South Windsor—to fulfill their interests.
However, when the family embarked on a three-month sabbatical in Israel two years ago, they were treated to free outdoor Ninja obstacle courses in public parks throughout the country, sparking an idea for Bloom, who also serves on the Lee Youth Commission, to make these amenities available in his community. He teamed up with Neighborhood Ninjas, the program that is knee-deep in creating a local park, the NinjaFit Lee Outdoor Obstacle Course Playground, slated to open mid-2025 at the Lee Athletic Field.
“There’s a big barrier to entry [into Ninja programs], not just for the location being so far away, but, like many extracurricular activities, it gets expensive,” Bloom said. “Without Neighborhood Ninjas, it would have been a very difficult project for us to bring to Lee.”
The cost of a Ninja obstacle course ranges from $250,000 to $280,000, said Neighborhood Ninjas Executive Director Alex Katz. Funds for Lee’s project include $50,000 ($40,000 playground deposit and $10,000 as the Neighborhood Ninjas fee) of the total $80,000 that was allocated at the May 9 Town Meeting from the Community Preservation Committee for a skate-park expansion and Ninja obstacle course, with Neighborhood Ninjas working to score the balance through company or individual sponsorships, donations, fundraising events, and grants. When the playground is complete, the group plans to host competitions and possibly lessons on site.
Katz said she founded the organization to increase access, not only to the sport of Ninja agility but to the benefits of exercise, especially for marginalized communities. With its team of Ninja athletes, educators, and social workers, the group also hopes to offer community connection, confidence, and resilience, she said. “What’s really cool about Ninja is, one, it’s a sport where you know you’re going to fall a bunch of times before you get the obstacle, which also helps with building that growth mindset, and two, it brings you back to your early childhood playground days,” Katz said. “So, as we get older, a lot of people just don’t feel like fitness is for them anymore, and one of the things that’s really great about Ninja is it brings you back to when movement was just play.”
According to the Neighborhood Ninjas website and citing the Center for Disease Control, only 15 percent of adults in the U.S. engage in physical activity three times weekly. Katz said a person learns four times faster through play than through other alternatives.
The group completed its first free NinjaFit outdoor playground in May in Wilmington, Del. The site is on a public bus line, bridging two socioeconomically diverse parts of the town, Katz said, and next year’s project in Lee will be the second for the nonprofit organization. “It’s been an incredible success [in Wilmington] with helping whole families be active, bringing folks of all different backgrounds together, increasing physical activity, and being able to do free programs at [the playground],” she said. “We’re really excited to be bringing this to the Berkshires.”
For the town of Lee, the new project is a good fit for local Ninja athletes who continue to endure long commutes to practice their craft. “We want to make NinjaFit more accessible; we want people to have this option,” Katz said. “There are a lot of kids where team sports just don’t work for whatever reason, or maybe they don’t want to play a team sport, or maybe the schedule doesn’t work. Our goal is making fitness, especially obstacle fitness, more accessible for the whole family. Because Lee doesn’t have anything like this, I think it will be a really cool addition.”
Long term, she plans to construct these facilities in low-income and rural parts of the country, reaching areas plagued with transportation and availability issues. Katz said her organization is taking requests for new Ninja course sites, with five playgrounds expected within the next two years.
The playground model design emanated from Ninja athletes and coaches, Katz said, and includes 14 obstacles on the course that accommodate all abilities from beginner to advanced. The equipment is permanently affixed to the ground site and boasts rubberized surfacing for safety and endurance, in addition to benches and signage. The project includes programming—classes and workshops—based on the community’s needs.
A portable demonstration of the Ninja agility obstacle course will be available at Lee Founder’s Day, from 10:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., on Saturday, September 21, at the Lee Athletic Field, with coaches and Ninja athletes offering a taste of the challenges the program offers. “As part of Founder’s Weekend, it’s going to be a huge opportunity for the town and for the Berkshires to really experience this for the first time,” Bloom said of the course that will be open to children and adults.
The NinjaFit course is recommended for ages 13 and over, a change from most playgrounds that accommodate younger children, Katz said.
For the Gordon-Bloom girls, the nearly yearlong wait to try out their hometown course is going to be difficult, but Bloom anticipates his daughters will be eager to share their Ninja knowledge and skills with others.
“The Lee Youth Commission is hoping that this is a way of expanding the recreational activities for tweens and teens and adults, for that older bracket of youth and adults,” Bloom said. “We think it will be an attraction for the Berkshires and something the community will really be excited for.”
Other activities planned for the Lee Athletic Field on September 21 begin at 10:45 a.m. with art activities, a bounce house, and a bike tune-up station, followed by Bowey the Magic Clown, Terry A La Berry & Friends Singalong, Skate Park and Fingerboard Competition, and circus activities. Cotton candy, ice cream, and popcorn will also be available.
