East Cobb teen to compete in American Ninja Warrior

Jun. 2—When East Cobb's Christopher Jones was little, he would watch American Ninja Warrior and tell his family that someday he'd be on the television show. It's a dream come true for Jones, 18, as he competes this season on the NBC program, with the first episode airing Monday.

In its 14th season, the game show requires contestants to run, jump, crawl, climb, hang, and swing through different obstacles as they compete to become the next ANW champion.

Jones, who graduated from Pope High School last month, has a condition called sensory processing disorder that makes it hard to interact with the world around him, especially when it comes to coordination and spatial awareness. According to Jones, getting into "ninja" helps control the condition.

"It helped me find a purpose and find a way to get my energy out," Jones said. "It also helped me learn to focus, because if you're not focused on the ninja course, you're probably not going to last very long."

Growing up, Jones did dance and gymnastics, but he could never find his footing in either due to the disorder. Jones also has dyslexia and ADHD, which was an obstacle in school.

"Growing up, I was super-duper uncoordinated, falling behind all my classmates in so many different ways. I would run into walls and fall out of my chair. I couldn't do basic tasks, like tie my shoes," Jones said. "It's really just been a game-changer for me, because it's helped me deal with all these obstacles in my life and helps me overcome them."

The sport requires brute upper body strength, agility and coordination for navigating the obstacle course. Initially, getting into ninja was a challenge with the coordination needed, but eventually, he adjusted.

His mother, Sherry Everett, said ninja greatly reduced the side effects of his sensory condition. Since it is one obstacle at a time, his brain is able to process and attempt each motion.

"He loves ninja. And you know, when you love something, you will work hard at it like he does. He loves being there. He loves the community, and it also was therapy for him," Everett said.

Going on the show was bittersweet for Jones — he lost his father Gregory Jones to lung cancer in December 2020.

Christopher and Gregory would watch the show together, and he helped influence Christopher's passion and training, building him a mock course in their backyard and helping him sign up at a local ninja gym.

Christopher said it was their dream together to get him on the show.

Gregory Jones, who was initially diagnosed in 2017, lived the remaining years of his life with the motto "Living Wide," which, according to Christopher, meant living each day to its fullest and never wasting a moment.

"If you can't go rock climbing, then go on a hike. If you can't go on a hike, then go on a walk. If you can't do that, then read a book. But never stop moving forward toward an end goal and never lose purpose in your life," Jones said. "When you lose the purpose in your life, what's the point?"

According to Christopher Jones, those final years of his father's life were some of the best because the family focused on spending as much meaningful time together as possible, not knowing how much they had left.

"I really think that it made us closer as a family, and we had some of the best times together after he got diagnosed just because we knew the time was limited, and we wanted to fill up our life with so much going on the show," Jones said.

Jones couldn't share the show's results, but he will be featured in the first episode of the season, which premieres Monday on NBC at 8 p.m.