Huntington fifth-grader David Futeran to appear on 'American Ninja Warrior Junior'
David Futeran, 10, of Huntington, is scheduled to appear on "American Ninja Warrior Junior" on March 2. Credit: Shelby Knowles
On the “American Ninja Warrior Junior” episode on March 12, viewers will meet competitor David Futeran, a 10-year-old fifth grader from Huntington.
“It was a mix of overwhelming and a little nerve-wracking. I was in front of all these people,” David says of taping the episode over three days in Los Angeles last summer. “I was also really excited to run the course. As soon as they said, ‘Go,’ all the outside pressure disappeared. It was just me and the course.”
David isn’t permitted to say how he does on the episode, which airs at 7 p.m. on Universal Kids. He plans to watch with family and friends at a viewing party at his home.
“American Ninja Warrior Junior” is a spinoff of the adult “American Ninja Warrior” show, which pits contestants against each other while running an elaborate obstacle course. David says he saw that show for the first time a few years ago, and he thought it was so cool that his father, Michael, a software developer, and mother, Nancy, a deputy clerk for the village of East Hills, sought out a Ninja gym in Brooklyn and brought their only child. They later switched to Obstacle Athletics in Deer Park.
“I love the weightless feeling when I fly through the air,” David says of running a course. For more information on the show, visit universalkids.com.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
