McLean Teen Competes On 'American Ninja Warrior'

MCLEAN, VA — McLean's own Max Feinberg hasn't just been a fan of NBC's "American Ninja Warrior" for years. He's been training for ninja competitions since age 10, has competed in ninja competitions, builds obstacles and even co-hosted a competition. But as a high schooler, he was not able to compete on "American Ninja Warrior" due to an age limit of 21.

That changed when the show decided to do a competition with contestants under age 19.

Feinberg, a McLean High School student, sent in an application with a video before getting a call months later to be on the show during season 13. He will appear on the June 21 episode.

"I found out I was just sitting in band class one day, and one of the hosts Matt Iseman gives me a call, and I was just so stoked," Feinberg told Patch. "I've been seeing him on TV for such a long time, and just hearing him say my name and say that I was going to be on the show was huge. It was just a dream come true."

Feinberg is part of the 400 athletes making up 30 teams chosen to film for the qualifying round in Tacoma, Washington. The qualifying round runs for five days, with the top 30 from each day moving on to semifinals in Los Angeles. The overall top 15 ninjas move on to finals in Las Vegas, where ninjas try to clear four courses to win the top prize of $1 million.

Feinberg has been preparing for years by training, building obstacles in his basement and participating in competitions. But as fans of "American Ninja Warrior" know, contestants don't know what the obstacle will look like until filming.

"To specifically prepare for the show, I did a lot more course runs, trying to replicate stuff that I'd seen in previous seasons in the gym," he said. "I have a home setup in my basement where I replicate stuff like that, then I'd go back and watch a lot of earlier episodes to kind of study how the show like how athletes that I know really well how they do on the show just to see where their skill set lines up."

While some ninja contestants impress with their body strength, Feinberg says he is a well-rounded athlete with a mental advantage.

"A lot of my experience and strong suits mentally come from understanding how these obstacles work, and when I build and test obstacles it just gives me so much more of an advantage playing on these different variations of old obstacles and stuff that might pop up in the future," he said.

The high school student was excited to see teens be featured on the show for the first time. He says younger contestants have advantages of being lighter and holding on longer. Some of the teens have also been training since they were kids, which may not be true of adult contestants.

"There's been so much hype around the kids the past couple years but to be able to have this many kids on the big stage competing with the pros, I think that [not] only proves to some of the pros, but it proves to everyone watching that the kids can do the same thing the pros can," Feinberg said.

While Feinberg could not discuss the results of the show before the episode aired, he did discuss the filming experience. He recalls the show setting up "crazy new obstacles" and filming indoors. Unlike past seasons, the show set up a virtual audience of family, coaches and friends projected on a large screen.

"The filming experience was so cool. Just to go from seeing it on TV for so many years to actually staring down the course in person was surreal," Feinberg said.

Another new component was the split decision offered to contestants. Contestants in the qualifying round got to choose between two agility course, which Feinberg said some struggled with physically and mentally.

Feinberg's hometown of McLean will be spotlighted on the "American Ninja Warrior" episode. The show sent a film crew to McLean to film Feinberg's daily life, including in the McLean High School marching band, around the high school, at home building obstacles and doing chores.

As a lifelong McLean resident, Feinberg enjoys his hometown being featured on national TV.

"It was awesome just seeing on TV for so many years all these people's homes and like the places they live," said Feinberg. "Just to have McLean specifically featured and just to see them walking around filming stuff filming me was just awesome."

Aside from competing in ninja competitions, Feinberg runs a company called Bucket of Chalk with his friend Kaden Lebsack, who also competed on "American Ninja Warrior" and other competitions. Bucket of Chalk specializes in chalk that athletes can use to hold on to ninja obstacles. The company also runs its own ninja pro team.

The two teens held their own ninja competition bearing the company name Bucket of Chalk. The competition was held at Ninja Intensity, a gym in Castle Rock, Colorado and gave away $10,000 in crash prizes the teens raised from sponsors. That competition drew around 100 athletes, and another competition is planned for October.

Feinberg is also involved with marching band at McLean High School and has been playing the trombone since fifth grade. Balancing ninja competitions with school could mean traveling to a competition and coming back to catch up on homework, training and practicing for band.

"It's difficult trying to find that balance, but it all kind of figures itself out. I make time for all of them," he said.

Beyond high school, he wants to keep competing and wants to work in ninja competitions in some way.

"As far as the future goes, I want to be doing this for as long as I can," Feinberg said. "With college coming up, I'm specifically trying to find colleges that are in these ninja hotspots because I want to move closer and live in these areas where I can continue to grow and compete as an athlete. I also want to career wise find something in the sport, whether it's business or health of some sort."

Feinberg's "American Ninja Warrior" episode premiered NBC at 8 p.m. on Monday, June 21. Feinberg got through the obstacle to secure a place in the semifinals.