
By Patrick Lujan
“If you built it, they will come.”
Made famous by the 1989 Field of Dreams movie and overused since then, it isn’t furthest from the truth when it comes to American Ninja Warrior veteran Deren Perez.
Competing in the unique athletic competition since 2015, Perez has always dreamed of bringing the event to Guam.
Now that the active duty Coast Guard member is stationed back home, Perez is literally building his dreams in his own back yard in Dededo.
“I absolutely love this sport and what the community is all about, and that’s helping each other rise to the challenge of overcoming obstacles. So I want to bring that camaraderie to the Pacific islands.”
The dream of bringing the sport to Guam started over two years ago when Perez was still stationed in the states. He said he’s visited over a dozen gyms to get ideas on what rig he wanted to build. He’s worked with the CEO of the Ultimate Ninja Athletic Association, became a member and is now preparing for Guam’s very first sanctioned event.
“Now that I’m here on island and the dream is slowly becoming a reality, I feel a heightened sense of pride. I’ve poured a lot of my own time, money and months of intense manual labor to bring Guam it’s very first Ninja Warrior competition. I would love for the sport to get big enough to host inner island competitions and eventually a Southeast Asia Pacific games.”
JUNE 25 IS GAME TIME
So used to preparing to compete, Perez is grinding to produce the challenging competition.
“The logistics for hosting a competition was definitely a learning curve. Being an athlete, training and knowing yourself is one thing. But working through all the different rules that come with hosting or being associated with a league was definitely a challenge. But at the end of the day it’s just another obstacle that I had to overcome to see my vision come to fruition.
“Ninja is still very new to the island. I feel this year’s competition to will be more of an eye-opener for those looking for an alternative style of sports/workouts.”
His main goal is to bring awareness to the sport, allow like-minded individuals the same opportunities to compete in Ninja Warrior style competitions and ultimately lead team from Guam to the world championships each year.
“The upcoming competition is not solely for the highly competitive individuals but this is also a chance for people to simply try out the course, to try out this style of competition and to basically provide people with a fun event while getting fit.”
If you are interested in trying your hand on the competition, you can register at https://ninjamasterapp.com/events/3494-guam-ninja-championship or contact Perez at
[email protected]
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GPS Sports Calendar
March 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for February
28th
Events for March
2nd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
Events for March
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
ISA GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for March
4th
35th RAINBOWS FOR ALL CHILDREN 3.5 MILER
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE FINALS
Events for March
5th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 3
Events for March
5th
Events for March
6th
Events for March
7th
Events for March
9th
Events for March
11th
GSPN PRESEASON BOYS VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT DAY 1
Bank of Guam Block Party 5K
Events for March
12th
Events for March
13th
Events for March
14th
Events for March
15th
Events for March
17th
World Athletics Indoor Championships
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
18th
PAY-LESS KICK THE FAT 5K/10K
World Athletics Indoor Championships
Events for March
19th
Events for March
21st
Events for March
25th
MARIANAS OPEN PRO JAPAN TOURNAMENT
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
26th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 4
Events for March
28th
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
30th
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
IIAAG GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
31st
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Jiu-Jitsu
MARIANAS OPEN TO TAKE OVER TOKYO

Jiu-Jitsu
MARIANAS OPEN TO TAKE OVER TOKYO
COMING SOON …
- 4th Quarter Sports
QUICK HITS
Guam MTB National Championship: Edward Oingerang and Jennifer Camacho are your 2023 MTB national champions. Oingerang finished the course in 1:13:24 while Camacho won her second straight title in 54:08.
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Kobe Miyashita, with St. John’s coach Arvin Flores, was named the 2023 IIAAG Middle School Boys Volleyball MVP!