Josh – once known as The Bathrobe Ninja – is among the top Ninja Warriors in the world and one of our top coaches. Don’t let his youth fool you.
In his first full year of competition (2018), he placed in the top 10 at the Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association (UNAA) and National Ninja League (NNL) world finals in his age group. He was called and made it to the semi-finals in Seasons 1 and 2 of American Ninja Warrior Junior (2018-19). In 2019, he was crowned the champion of 11-13 year olds for the Athlete Warrior Games (AWG) and was 3rd at the UNAA World finals. He ended his “junior” career in 2020 finishing 2nd at AWG (14-16) finals and #9 (13-14 Stage 3) and #6 (13-14 Strongest Ninja) at the NNL finals. For the 2020-21 season, he decided to go pro.
At the age of 15, Josh qualified in both the Northeast and Southeast regions in the NNL Elite division in his first attempts beating many top ninjas. That eventually led him to the NNL Elite division finals in July 2021, where he completed Stage 1 flawlessly and posted the fastest time even though many top ninjas followed after him and knew the time to beat. He was on his way to do the same on Stage 2 when he had an unfortunate misstep on the last balance obstacle to end up in 13th place in the course competition, but ended up 8th in the “Strongest Ninja” rankings which combined his course placement and individual skills trials. A few weeks later, he went on to the Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association World Finals and finished 3rd in the pro division!
In 2022, He finished 2nd in the Pro division at the UNAA finals, and pulled an amazing final finish on the American Ninja Warrior Family Championship special to help his family claim the title of Champions. NOTE: Appearances on the TV show are not necessarily a consequence of success in the sport… the sport is completely independent of the casting of the shows. In the first two seasons of the Ninja Sports Championship, he qualified for the finals and ended up near the top.
An incredible student of the sport, Joshua began training other children in late 2018, and his first protege finished 3rd in their first competition. He’s traveled and trained under some of the best coaches in the country, picking up a lot of tips along the way, and growing in his own right.
The Auer family has adopted Psalm 144:12 as its family verse:
Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace;
Joshua has certainly matured beyond his years. Even when he competed as a 13 year old, older competitors were constantly asking him for advice. Everyone he’s trained – of any age – will tell you that he has helped them immensely. And he’s still just getting started. He was the designer and leader of our Competition Training Clinics, and regularly designs the courses for classes in our Fuquay facility. He’ll begin leading our Competition Team Jr. in 2023 as he turns 18.