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Lights. Cameras. Action! The Champions Training Academy, located in LaGrange, is set to host its American Ninja Warrior camp on June 28-30, and campers will have a chance to learn parkour, stunts and more from legendary former American Ninja Warrior champion and Hollywood stunt double Brent Steffensen.

“We’ve had an American Ninja Warrior camp before, and it was an incredible camp and so much fun,” CTA founder Pattie Harrelson said. “This guy has been in 10 seasons of American Ninja Warrior and has done stunts for a ton of movies, so we want to get the word out about him coming to LaGrange.”

Any experience level is welcome at the camp as long as they are 5-18 years old and 10-18 for the advanced stunt package class.

 “For the stunt class, there needs to be some age of maturity so that we don’t have kids accidentally smack each other in the head or anything like that,” said CTA manager Ethan McKie. 

The five main tenets of the program will be: running, rolling, flipping, swinging and strength. One of the major aspects of each is learning how to fall correctly.

“One of the first major things we teach them is how to fall safely,” McKie said. “For the lack of a better term, they will learn how to get hurt safely.”

The campers will get experience and knowledge, but also walk away with something tangible. The goal is to put together a short stunt clip for each camper by the end of the three-day camp.

“We won’t be doing anything crazy,” McKie said. “It’ll just be basic kicks, basic camera angles, and try to get the kids a little fun, little 30-second fight scene.”

McKie will also be teaching at the camp alongside Steffensen. Together, they hope to make it a memorable three days for the campers in LaGrange.

“He’s actually one of my parkour coaches at the studio I go to in Tyrone,” McKie said. “His knowledge is far beyond mine and has a much wider range of skills than I do, so he will be able to teach them things that I never could.”

One of the main reasons Champions is pushing this camp is the severe lack of acrobatic/gymnastic camps in the area, especially for boys. 

“There’s not really anything for male cheerleading, male gymnastics, and acrobatics here in LaGrange,” Harrelson said. “It’s not only for guys either, it’s for girls too.”

“I never had something like this growing up, so it is huge for them to go ahead and get this kind of experience,” McKie added.

More information about the camp can be found on the Champions Training Academy website. The first level of camp costs $150, with the stunt training tier costing an additional $99. To register or reach out with questions, go to https://www.championsga.com/clinics.