Danbury's Own 'American Ninja Warrior' To Make TV Debut

DANBURY, CT — While most teen aged athletes are practicing after school in football, baseball, basketball or some other all-American sport of choice, one Danbury High School student is busy honing his ninja skills. Those skills will be on display for the world to see when the new season of "American Ninja Warrior Junior" premieres this Saturday.

Fourteen-year-old Devan Alexander, a student at Danbury High School, will make his debut on the "warped wall," "tic toc," "spin cycle" or whatever other high-tech obstacles the show's producers have concocted for the series' second season.

Devan says he and his family fell in love with the show's parent series, "American Ninja Warrior," in its seventh season in 2015, when he was 10.

"And I was like, 'I could do that!'" Devan told Patch.

And he could, as it turned out. A couple of days later he signed up with a "ninja gym," Ninja Mania, on Kenosia Avenue in Danbury. It's one of a new wave of niche gyms that condition athletes to compete on the show and in the National Ninja League, with a regimen that's a colorful blend of parkour, boot camp, and Batman.

"American Ninja Warrior Junior" is just one of many such torturous obstacle course TV competition shows that have become popular following the success of the "American Ninja Warrior" TV series. That show, which premiered in December 2009 on cable and airs now on NBC, was a spin-off of the Japanese show "Sasuke." Its immediate popularity in turn inspired other climb-jump-fall down competition series such as "Ultimate Beastmaster," and can probably take some of the credit for the "sport climbing" event scheduled to make its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The first season of "American Ninja Warrior Junior" premiered on Universal Kids in October 2018. For Devan, this meant he would not have to wait as long for his shot at ninja fame. An open casting call for the second season was announced in February 2019, and Devan made the cut handily.

Training, ever in earnest, then became furious. Tuesdays and Thursdays Devan goes to the ninja gym and trains from 6:30-8 p.m. The other five days he does strength training at home, performing pull-ups, leg exercises and the like. He's also set up a challenging obstacle course in the family garage, which tests his agility (and likely his parents' parking skills, if not their patience).

He says he trains "a little bit, a half hour to an hour," when he gets home from school, and then does his homework. After dinner, he trains some more.

Immediately after school on Mondays and Thursdays is chess club, however. The "Game of Kings" was his original passion, from the age of six. In fact, his "profile" — the backstory video the show's producers create to help viewers get to know each contestant — focuses on his chess expertise.

Having excelled at both cerebral and physical pursuits before he was old enough to shave, we wondered what the toughest part of Devan's daily grind and rapid ascent could be.

"I felt pressured because my mom was inviting a lot of family and friends to come watch me in Los Angeles, which is where we film," Devan said.

Proud moms'll do that, unfortunately. Stress is an occupational hazard for prodigies.

For those seeking to make a name for themselves on network television as a world-class athlete, or just looking to hang on past their next performance review, Devan had some advice:

"Never give up. Don't let anyone hold you back. Do what you believe in. Train hard, work hard, and it'll pay off."

Devan's pay-off begins Saturday, on Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. on Universal Kids.