New Hampshire 7-Year-Old Heading To Ninja World Championships

MANCHESTER, NH — A second-grader from New Hampshire will be heading to North Carolina to compete with other children on cliffhangers and obstacle courses. Hunter Gebo, a second-grader from the Green Acres Elementary in Manchester, is raising money via GoFundMe.com to offset the cost of competing in the National Ninja League World Championships in North Carolina in February. Gebo and his family are seeking to raise $2,500, so he can take the trip.

Gebo is a member of the Stealth Squad at USA Ninja Challenge in Manchester and has been involved in competitions for months. He qualified for the championships during a regional competition last week.

Ninja obstacles are not the only one faced by Gebo. He was born premature, according to his mom, Nancy Glynn, weighing only 2 lbs., and with a condition called microtia (or "little ear"), a deformed ear, without a canal, on his left side, which has led to significant hearing loss. Gebo has been enrolled in the deaf and hard of hearing program at school but his parents felt he might need something to empower him and help him face adversity — so they enrolled him in the ninja warrior program and he quickly took to the sport.

"He absolutely loves it," Glynn said. "If he’s not at the gym or a competition, he’s creating cliffhangers and obstacle courses from whatever is around him. When he told us he wants to compete and eventually make it on to the American Ninja Warrior Junior show, we decided the best thing we can do is support him and provide as many opportunities as possible for him to follow his dreams. No matter what happens at Worlds, he is having this incredible experience and learning so much about how to set goals, work hard, reach high, and never set limits on what you can achieve."

The National Ninja League World Championships will be held in Greensboro, NC, from Feb. 21, to Feb. 23. For more information about the event, visit nationalninja.com/worlds.html.

To make a donation to the Gebo's effort, visit GoFundMe.com.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.

Got a news tip? Send it to me at tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/tonyschinella.