MIDWEST NINJA SERIES RULEBOOK
Summary
Midwest Ninja Series (MNS) is a league of ninja competitions with 4 qualifiers and a finals marketed to athletes in the Midwest looking for consistent, competitive, and high quality competitions with a sought after rule format.
Divisions/Age Brackets
All age brackets (listed below) are for athletes age on the day of finals (April 19th). Each age bracket has a male and female division for it. If you start a season in a division, you can only compete in that division until the following season (for Pro and Adult divisions only).
Ages 8-10
Ages 11-13
Pro (14+)
Adults (18+)
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Anyone who has 3 or more 1st place finishes at Obstacle Academy competitions in the previous season (Aug-July) has the opportunity to compete up 1 division. We strongly encourage all athletes to compete within their age division. If an athlete given the opportunity chooses to compete up a division, they are stuck in that division until they age out of it upwards. They are not allowed to change their mind and move back to the division that suits their age. If you would like to submit a review to compete up one division, you can email the team at info@obstacle-academy.com.
MNS OUTLINE
Retry System
All courses will be utilizing a retry system. The retry system will allow for athletes to fall three times in the course total. If an athlete falls for the first or second time throughout the course, they will retry the obstacle failed after a mandatory 15-second wait time. If an athlete falls again anywhere in the course, their run will be over.
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If an athlete starts before the judges queue, then they will be made to return to the starting block. They will then need to wait additional time for the obstacle to be fully reset and for the judges queue before starting.
Placement
One point will be awarded per obstacle completed. The athlete’s run will be over when either; all obstacles have been completed, time limit has been reached, or the athlete has failed to complete an obstacle three times throughout the course. Placement will be determined by the following criteria in order of most important to least:
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Obstacles completed
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Least number of falls to last clear
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Time through last cleared obstacle
Ranking
All divisions will have a ranking system utilized for finals qualifications and run order. There are three ranks (Iron, Gold, Diamond), each having three tiers within them (I, II, III). Start of season rank positions for the 2024/25 season are determined by placements in Obstacle Academy competitions in the 2023/24 season.
Ranks are determined by Athlete Ratings, the Athlete Rating for each rank is shown below.
Diamond III - 1400+
Diamond II - 1350-1399
Diamond I - 1300-1349
Gold III - 1250-1299
Gold II - 1200-1249
Gold I - 1150-1199
Iron III - 1100-1149
Iron II - 1050-1099
Iron I - 0-1049
*The values listed above may update at any time throughout the season. This would not alter the Rank Position for any athlete and only potentially update Ranks.
FORMAT
Outline
In the qualifying round, athletes will have one run on a course. These runs will use the retry system and be scored as explained in the format section above.
Qualifying for Finals
As long as athlete count allows, 12 athletes from each division will qualify for finals. To qualify for Finals, an athlete must fit one of the following criteria:​
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Place top 3 at a Qualifying Round Competition (up to 12 total throughout the season)
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The remaining athletes to reach a total of 12 will qualify by rank. If an athlete in a qualifying position by rank is already qualified, that spot will pass down to the next athlete. (Only athletes who have done a qualifier will be considered).
QUALIFYING ROUNDS
Outline
Finals will be a two day event. On day 1, will have one run on the Placement Round course with run order being determined by the following:
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Season Rank Position
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Highest placement throughout the Qualifying Rounds
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Number of times with that placement throughout the Qualifying Rounds
On day 2, the top 8 athletes from the Placement Round will have one run in the Finals Round course with their finish in the Placement Round determining the run order (1st place will run last, 8th place will run first). The highest placed athlete in the Finals round will be crowned the Champion of that season for their Division.
FINALS ROUNDS
​Obstacle Malfunction
In the event of an obstacle malfunction that results in the athlete not being able to continue running the course in a way that is fair for all athletes, they will be allowed at least 10 minutes of time to recover and then run the course from the start. Their time to the point of the obstacle malfunction will stay the same unless they get to it slower (even if they get to that obstacle faster). Their falls to the point of the obstacle malfunction will also stay the same unless they fall more times on their second run than their first.
(example)
Athlete A gets to obstacle 6 in 1:52 falling once up to that point, on their first attempt of obstacle 6, it breaks. They will be allowed a minimum of 10 minutes to rewarm up while the problem with obstacle 6 is fixed. After that, they will run the course again from the start.
If they;
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Get to 6 faster than 1:52, they will continue from obstacle 6 with the timer changing to 1:52 and running from there.
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Timer reaches 1:52 before obstacle 6, their timer will continue to run from that point as a standard timer.
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Fall on the way to obstacle 6, they will then have 1 fall on the course total.
Missed Reset
Course will be reset as quickly as possible and time will be adjusted accordingly (as if the timer paused during the extra time needed for reset) upon completion of the athlete's run.
Athlete Injury
If an athlete gets injured during their run and cannot continue running the course, the next runner will not run the course until the injured athlete has a staff member with them to ensure they get the first aid required of the situation.
Late Athlete
If an athlete shows up after they were supposed to run in the run order, they forfeit their run.
Unfair Advantage from Touching Obstacles Early
In the event of an athlete touching an obstacle in the course before their run, they will be disqualified from the competition.
Minimum Warm up
Athletes will get a minimum of 10 minutes straight to warm up before runs begin. These 10 minutes can occur before or after walkthrough, but cannot be split by walkthrough (5 minutes before, 5 minutes after). If the 10 minutes occurs before walkthrough, the athletes will be allowed at least 5 minutes after walkthrough to rewarm up. If an athlete shows up late, they could potentially forfeit their minimum warm up time.