Leopold’s Michelle Cullanan and her son Jett will head to Florida in July to compete in multiple events at the World Obstacle Sports Expo 23, including the Federation of Ninja Athletics World Finals. They spoke to Matt Hewson about the sport they love and their journey so far.
Michelle Cullanan had always enjoyed competitive sports, including obstacle courses, so when the show Australian Ninja Warrior hit our television screens in 2017 she knew she had to throw her hat in the ring.
“I’ve always been sporty; I did little aths, netball since I was teeny weeny, I play indoor cricket, basketball, I do functional training, gym work in general; lots of running, I’ve done marathons,” she said.
“I loved obstacle racing, running and obstacles, but I enjoyed the obstacles more than the running side.
“So when I saw the TV show come on, I thought oh, this looks good. And then my whole family was like, Mum, you need to go on that.
“Obviously I did, and got through the massive application process that you have to do, as well as the videos and interviews. It’s actually quite intimidating, some of it, to get on the show.”
Michelle competed in the 2018 season of the show, but unfortunately her initial run was not screened. Despite that disappointment, she was more than happy when Channel Nine asked her to work for the show testing the obstacle courses.
The next year, Michelle went on to qualify for the National Ninja League World Championships in the masters category, travelling to the USA for the event and eventually finishing in third place.
By this stage, Michelle’s son Jett had started getting involved with ninja athletics as well, showing a natural talent for the sport.
Now 13, Jett began training alongside his mother when he was six years old.
“It’s just fun, it calms me down, takes my mind off the bad things in life,” Jett said.
Due to his aptitude for ninja athletics, Jett soon found himself training with the adults as he began competing locally and further afield.
He said he preferred the more serious training, as it allowed him to really push himself.
“It’s actually made me do more, focus more on the activities,” he said.
“When I was in the (junior) class I didn’t really focus that well because of all the games and things that were happening. It was only really five minutes of doing the actual training.”
The World Obstacle Sports Expo, held at the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando, Florida from July 26 to 30, is the first event of its kind in the world, bringing the major annual events of three different ninja athletics organisations together for the first time.
The five competitions, which include the UNAA World Series Finals, the FINA World Finals, the Ninja World Cup, the World Ninja Athlete Games Championships and the Ultimate OCR 3km Championships, are held over five days in a packed schedule.
Jett has qualified to compete in the UNAA, FINA and World Cup events, while Michelle has earnt a spot in all five competitions.
“We weren’t expecting to qualify, to be honest,” Michelle said.
“We literally did this event to just see how we went. We’ve always done it for fun, really, but I’m a bit competitive.
“Then Jett decided he wanted to start doing comps, so we got more into the comps with him. This is his first year of full competition.”
The step to competition was a big one for Jett, but he has learnt to channel his nerves into his performances on the course.
“I get a bit anxious when I’m actually heading to (a competition), but then once I get there I see the course, see what things I might get. And the ones I might not get I try the most on.
“That means taking it slow and steady (on those obstacles), and then the ones I know I can do pretty easily I can do pretty fast.”
Through Jett’s competition journey Michelle has loved watching her son grow and blossom.
“I’ve noticed that Jett’s confidence has bloomed,” she said.
“From being a really timid, quiet boy, he’s now come out of his shell. He’s a lot more focused as well.
“Building that confidence and being both there together, I suppose, and supporting each other makes a big difference too.”
Michelle said the support of both the local ninja community and people all throughout the region had been instrumental in allowing her and Jett to travel to the US to compete.
“Between the Leopold and Bellarine communities, it’s just been sensational; we wouldn’t be going without them,” she said.
“Lots of strangers have helped us. We’ve got like a gofundme page, but it’s through the Australian Sports Federation fundraising site.
“We put on a garage sale, Jett made a heap of cupcakes, we’ve got our fundraising socks. And our local gym’s done a lot for us, Geelong Ninjas did a big fundraiser for the six local ninjas going.”
She said the ninja community in general was amazingly supportive of anyone who wanted to try the sport.
“The community spirit… even though it’s an individual sport, every ninja, it doesn’t matter who you are, they will support you the entire way,” she said.
“They’ll give you tips on how to do things, they’ll come up to you and say, oh, that was so good, you did so well. It’s just an amazing community.”
Michelle said it was fantastic to be able to share this experience with her son.
“(Going together) is what we love about it,” she said.
“It’s something Jett and I have always loved doing together and we’ve always supported each other with that. It’s nice having a mini me.”
