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28 | October 18, 2018 | The wilmette beacon LIFE & ARTS<br />

wilmettebeacon.com<br />

WILMETTE<br />

The Rock House<br />

(1150 Central Ave. (847)<br />

256-7625)<br />

■6:30 ■ p.m., Friday, Oct.<br />

19: Family Night and<br />

Karaoke<br />

■9:30 ■ a.m., Saturday,<br />

Oct. 20: Jazz Quartet<br />

■7 ■ p.m., Saturday, Oct.<br />

20: Acoustic Fight Club<br />

Wilmette Park District<br />

Community Recreation<br />

Center<br />

(3000 Glenview Road,<br />

(847) 256-9686)<br />

■4 ■ p.m., Saturday, Oct.<br />

20: Halloween Happening<br />

2018<br />

Centennial Ice Rinks<br />

(2300 Old Glenview<br />

Road, (847) 256-9666)<br />

■1 ■ p.m., Saturday, Oct.<br />

27: Spooky Skate 2018<br />

NORTHBROOK<br />

Pinstripes<br />

(1150 Willow Road,<br />

(847) 480-2323)<br />

■From ■ open until close<br />

all week: bowling and<br />

bocce<br />

Northbrook Theatre<br />

(3323 Walters Ave. (847)<br />

291-2367)<br />

■Multiple ■ showtimes<br />

from Oct. 6- Nov.<br />

10: performances of<br />

“Curious George: “The<br />

Golden Meatball”<br />

To place an event in The<br />

Scene, email martin@northbrooktower.com<br />

New Trier student competes on ‘American Ninja Warrior Junior’<br />

Libby Elliott<br />

Freelance Reporter<br />

Local fans of the hugely<br />

popular, five-time Emmy<br />

nominated “American<br />

Ninja Warrior” reality<br />

TV series were thrilled to<br />

know that on Saturday,<br />

Oct. 13, Universal Kids<br />

premiered its spinoff,<br />

“American Ninja Warrior<br />

Junior,” featuring nearly<br />

200 boy and girl Ninjas<br />

aged 9-14 from across the<br />

United States.<br />

They’ll be even more<br />

excited to know that one<br />

of the North Shore’s own<br />

was among the debut<br />

show’s featured competitors:<br />

14-year-old New<br />

Trier freshman, Courtney<br />

Schumacher.<br />

A four-sport athlete and<br />

triple-A hockey player,<br />

Schumacher, of Winnetka,<br />

was among thousands of<br />

applicants selected to faceoff<br />

on the same iconic obstacle<br />

course used in the<br />

original series, competing<br />

in the 13- and 14-year-old<br />

aged bracket along with 63<br />

other elite athletes.<br />

Schumacher traveled<br />

to Los Angeles with her<br />

family for a week last<br />

July to tape the series’ first<br />

episode, but kept the news<br />

under wraps for legal reasons.<br />

Even after finding out<br />

last June that her audition<br />

tape was selected<br />

from thousands submitted,<br />

Schumacher had to stay<br />

mum, divulging the secret<br />

to just a few members of<br />

her immediate family, including<br />

her brother, Teddy,<br />

12, and sister, Maggie, 7.<br />

“I was so excited. I wanted<br />

to tell everyone,” said<br />

Schumacher, who began<br />

playing competitive golf,<br />

basketball, baseball and<br />

hockey as a first-grader.<br />

Although Schumacher<br />

said the experience was<br />

“incredible,” she still can’t<br />

divulge specific details<br />

of the competition until<br />

“American Ninja Warrior<br />

Junior” officially airs to<br />

audiences on Oct. 13.<br />

Schumacher said she<br />

started watching “American<br />

Ninja Warrior” as<br />

a fifth-grader at Skokie<br />

School, and was immediately<br />

hooked on the<br />

show’s fast-paced, competitive<br />

action. The young<br />

athlete was already pushing<br />

boundaries as one of<br />

the only girls on her local<br />

travel baseball team.<br />

“Courtney has never<br />

been afraid of the ‘boysonly’<br />

thing,” said her mom,<br />

Allison Schumacher.<br />

Just 10 years old at the<br />

time, Schumacher vowed<br />

to audition for the show<br />

when she turned 21, the<br />

show’s minimum age of<br />

eligibility. When that age<br />

restriction dropped to 19<br />

at the beginning of 2018,<br />

Schumacher felt hopeful.<br />

“I thought, ‘Great!”<br />

Schumacher said. “Only<br />

five more years to go.”<br />

Schumacher’s parents<br />

constructed an obstacle<br />

course in their backyard,<br />

and began driving her —<br />

in between hockey practices<br />

— to training sessons<br />

at nearby “Ninja”-certified<br />

gyms.<br />

“In addition to being a<br />

gifted athlete, Courtney<br />

is highly self-motivated,”<br />

Allison said. “She’ll go<br />

outside and shoot 100<br />

hockey pucks or go into<br />

her room and knock out 15<br />

pull-ups.”<br />

Schumacher dedicated<br />

her “American Ninja<br />

Warrior Junior” competition<br />

to her little brother,<br />

Teddy, who developed a<br />

brain tumor four years ago<br />

at age 8. After the tumor<br />

was successfully removed,<br />

Teddy developed epilepsy<br />

and could no longer play<br />

competitive sports.<br />

New Trier student Courtney Schumacher (left), 14, competed on “American Ninja<br />

Warrior Junior.” The episode aired Saturday, Oct. 13. She poses here with Meagan<br />

Martin, one of the show’s All Star Ninja mentors. Photo Submitted<br />

Last year, with the help<br />

of Schumacher’s hockey<br />

team, Teddy raised thousands<br />

of dollars for the<br />

St. Baldrick’s Foundation,<br />

an organization that funds<br />

childhood cancer research.<br />

“Teddy is Courtney’s<br />

hero,” Allison said.<br />

In between tapings on<br />

the Universal Kids set in<br />

Los Angeles, the Schumachers<br />

made sure to visit<br />

Venice’s famous Muscle<br />

Beach, where Schumacher<br />

exercised alongside local<br />

body builders.<br />

“Being a good Ninja<br />

is all about upper body<br />

strength,” Schumacher<br />

said. “It also helps to<br />

watch the show on a regular<br />

basis, so you know<br />

what’s coming.”<br />

Last August, Schumacher<br />

took first place in the<br />

Teen Female Division of<br />

a National Ninja League<br />

competition in Hartland,<br />

Wisc., a title that now<br />

qualifies her for the 2019<br />

World Championship set<br />

to take place this February<br />

in Hartford, Conn.<br />

Schumacher reports that<br />

she’s still in touch with<br />

the 63 kids she met on set<br />

last summer, and that most<br />

work out with professional<br />

“Ninja” trainers where<br />

they live.<br />

“For many kids, Ninja<br />

is their sole sport,” Allison<br />

said.<br />

The Schumachers hosted<br />

a small “American Ninja<br />

Warrior Junior” viewing<br />

party for close friends and<br />

family at their home on<br />

Oct. 13, when the results<br />

of Courtney’s appearance<br />

on the show were finally<br />

revealed.<br />

That is, until next time.<br />

“I’ll hope to be on the<br />

show again when I turn<br />

19,” Schumacher said.

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