Lee — With its opening celebration now less than a year away, Lee Ninjafit Outdoor Obstacle Course Playground proponents are looking to elevate the project to its next level through a fundraiser that will test their agility and more.
The nonprofit organization is hosting a November 2 fitness festival, from 10 a.m. to noon, at sponsor Soules Sports & Fitness, 925 Pleasant Street. The event features a lateral pull-up contest along with a pizza party from Lee Domino’s, raffle prizes, and yoga flow classes courtesy of Yoga Lee. Vendors will be on hand for early holiday shopping, and for those who have not taken to the pull-up bar in a while, instructors will be teaching a class covering the basics, and a prize will be awarded to the individual who can do the most pull-ups in 10 minutes. A $10 registration fee is required, with those funds going toward the playground build.
“There’s a little bit of something for everyone,” said Alex Katz, who founded nonprofit Neighborhood Ninjas that oversees the rollout of the playground and related fundraisers. “If you’re like, ‘Hey, I’m a pull-up champion, I want to compete for pull-up prizes,’ then in the middle of the event, there will be opportunities for people to compete against each other, [to see who can] do the most [pull-ups] in 10 minutes. Everyone can cheer them on. And if you don’t do pull-ups yet, there’s a pull-up class where we’ll teach you how to do it.”
The effort is made in the name of fitness, with the first local NinjaFit playground due to open this summer, Katz said of the project that will add a Ninja Warrior, or obstacle, course to a section of the Lee Athletic Field. Borne out of a collaboration between the nonprofit group and the Lee Youth Commission, a portion of the $280,000 needed to develop the program was approved at Lee’s Annual Town Meeting in May 2024, using $40,000 of Community Preservation Committee (CPC) appropriations as a playground deposit and another $10,000 of CPC monies for consulting fees. That tally will be used to create a 15-obstacle course, delivery and installation of the equipment, and a rubberized landing surface that adds the necessary safety and accessibility component to the project.
With about 70 percent of the funds needed to bring the program to fruition already in the bank, Katz is hoping the upcoming event will be able to help supporters cross the finish line. The group recently hosted a fundraising dinner at Greenock Country Club featuring Ninja royalty, including 2024 American Ninja Warrior women’s champion and Pembroke, Mass., native Addy Herman and competitor Anthony Eardley.
According to Katz, the playground project is set to open in the late spring or early summer of 2026, with the community set to take part in the site’s construction. Meanwhile, she said her team is waiting for several grants and sponsorships to come in. Many area businesses have already stepped up to sponsor an individual obstacle on the playground and, with that contribution, garnered a post of their logo and QR code in a prominent spot on that activity’s signage.
“We do still have openings for sponsorships, still looking for community partners, founding partners, and sponsors for the playground, so there’s a ton of opportunities for businesses to get involved,” Katz said.
Once the playground is up and running, Katz said NinjaFit will be hosting on-site community programs focused on youth and young adults—with attention paid to both their physical and mental wellness, benefits “the community really wants to get behind.”
“Really, at the end of the day, it’s just supporting the cause, helping us build the playground, get the rest of the way there with fundraising,” Katz said.
Pre-registration for the party is optional and can be made at Neighborhood Ninjas’ website.
