Fuquay-Varina teen will compete on ‘American Ninja Warrior.’ How to watch
Lilah Nathison hasn’t been training as a ninja for long — just under two years — but she’s already made it to the sport’s biggest stage.
Nathison, who is from Fuquay-Varina and also goes by the nickname “L Grizz,” will compete on NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” during the Season 14 premiere on Monday, June 6. The reality competition show features contestants completing feats of strength, agility and endurance throughout various obstacle courses.
At just 15 years old, Nathison is competing at the youngest age allowed on the show.
But neither her newness to the sport nor her young age intimidate her.
“It was intimidating at first, but then as I kept competing and I would place amongst other people who are older, I kind of forgot about my age, and I did use that as like a motivating factor,” Nathison told The News & Observer in a recent interview.
Nathison began training as a ninja in October 2021 — October 22, 2021, to be exact, which she remembers because she keeps a photo of herself in the gym that day on her phone, reminding her of how far she’s come in such a short time.
At first, Nathison tried ninja training just for fun, hoping it would be a physical and mental outlet for her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. She attended open gyms and classes at Rock Solid Warrior, a ninja warrior training gym in Fuquay-Varina that includes two longtime “American Ninja Warrior” competitors on staff.
“One day I went and I tried out their competition team practice, and I didn’t do really good that day, because everyone was better than me,” Nathison said. “So I got like really discouraged and I didn’t want to go back.”
Soon, though, with encouragement from her parents and friends, she gave it another try. She started attending open gyms once or twice a week, hanging out with her friends and having fun while slowly building strength.
‘My ADHD feels like a strength and not a weakness’
She began taking her training more seriously, branching out to train at an additional gym, Warrior Tech OCR in Morrisville, and entering local and elite-level ninja competitions.
“I just started learning really fast, and now I’m on the most elite level of the team,” Nathison said. “Everything kind of just took off really fast.”
That fast-paced journey picked up even more speed early this year, when Nathison got the call that she’d been cast in the upcoming season of “American Ninja Warrior.” She sent in her application in fall 2021 with the help of her mom. The application highlighted the positive changes ninja training had made in Nathison’s life — from increasing her confidence to improving her physical performance to giving her a positive outlet for her ADHD.
“With ninja, it’s made my ADHD feels like a strength and not a weakness, like everywhere else,” Nathison said. “I can use it to my advantage.”
A ninja on the sport’s biggest stage
Nathison didn’t expect to get cast on the show, but “when I got the call, it was like everything I thought it would be,” she said.
She filmed her competition for the show in San Antonio in March — and while we’ll have to wait until the show airs to see how she did, Nathison said the experience was one with a welcoming, accepting atmosphere that was full of support from her family, friends and fellow competitors.
“It was like the best, the most fun I’ve ever had,” Nathison said.
Competing on the show and having it air to viewers nationwide is exciting to Nathison, who says she wasn’t scared or intimidated by the idea, but rather “liked the sound” of being on the sport’s biggest stage.
And while she’s back home in North Carolina now, she doesn’t have plans to slow down.
She’s still training like always — usually doing “really serious” training three or four times a week, sometimes more, and even training some of her younger neighbors. Her competition season is starting soon, too, meaning she’ll be traveling to compete at the elite level once or twice a month.
“I’m just excited to see what this season has for me after all the work I’ve been putting in,” Nathison said.
How to watch ‘American Ninja Warrior’
Nathison competes in the Season 14 premiere episode of “American Ninja Warrior,” which will air Monday, June 6, at 8 p.m. on NBC.
You can also stream the episode live online at nbc.com/live, or after it airs at nbc.com/american-ninja-warrior.
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 8:35 AM with the headline "Fuquay-Varina teen will compete on ‘American Ninja Warrior.’ How to watch."
