Liba Yoffe grew up on TV with “American Ninja Warrior”, but she never thought she would be on the show – let alone as what appears to be the show’s first Orthodox Jewish woman. As a spectator, she enjoyed seeing the breathtaking performances of Strength. She marveled at how competitors would overcome obstacles like the “shrinking steps” that require an athlete to walk over five steps that drop on impact, or the “spinning tree trunk” that resembles a moving balance beam, which told me even more became aware when I was on the show, ”said Yoffe, 35, who lives in Phoenix. “Everyone who is there – you are there because you are an athlete – but you also have a story; So you’re with a group of really great people. ”Yoffe’s own story is one of persistence. Movement was always Yoffes outlet. As a teenager, she cycled five miles to and from school; she would play rollerblade, play basketball, swim, climb anything she could find – “everything active, I was there.” Liba Yoffe shows her strengths in her casting video for “American Ninja Warrior” on YouTube. Screenshot by Nicole Raz But she has never had contact with fitness competitions. “I always felt like I was missing out,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘If I could just go to public school, then I could compete and be on a team.’” As a young woman, she suppressed her interest in sports and fitness because she was ashamed of being “a strong girl “Want to be called, as opposed to” a pretty girl “. “The religious world doesn’t understand how valuable this (strength) is to a girl’s self-esteem. And that’s why they don’t care enough, ”she said. When Yoffe started weight training, she realized how strong she actually was and loved the way she felt. “I’ve stopped bothering about the other things.” Describing herself as “super competitive,” she started looking for ways to enter national powerlifting competitions two years ago. But in the end she did not pursue this goal as she was not allowed to compete in a skirt, which in her opinion affected her values. Liba Yoffe shows her strengths in her casting video for “American Ninja Warrior” on YouTube. Screenshot by Nicole Raz A Jewish athlete who knew Yoffe and her unique history reached out to her, encouraging her to look at the ninja sport as yet another avenue of competition that would probably be better suited to her religious needs, saying, “I’m Ready for the challenge, ‘”she said. “I went to a ninja gym and it was a whole different kind of sport because there are no rules – just don’t fall.” She started working out and brought in the whole family. Her husband built a ninja course in the back yard. and her four children – a 12 year old daughter and three sons aged 10, 7 and 4 – are just as excited about American Ninja Warrior as she is. Her kids even attended her casting video for the show, with her daughter Tehila saying things with, “Hey, ninja people, introduce my mom.” And Yoffe immediately lets the audience know how important her religious identity is. “I love my religion, I love my culture, but something is missing. It has to be normalized to be involved in sports in order to be able to practice athletics, ”said Yoffe in her audition video. “I want to show our community leaders that girls and women should be able to play sports while keeping their faith.” Her daughter was diagnosed with alopecia when she was 2 years old, which caused her to lose all of her hair. “I knew it at the point that if I didn’t get extremely confident personally, I would have no way of raising a confident daughter,” she said in the video. Yoffe immediately faced a unique challenge when filming for the current season took place during Passover. It was held in Tacoma, Washington, and the whole family went with her. “It was definitely not easy,” she said. “We couldn’t have all of the food they gave us.” But the show went out of its way to give her flexibility in her itinerary during Passover, she said. An American Ninja Warrior rep did not respond to a request for comment on the show’s decision to make Yoffe more flexible. Participating in the show was Yoffe’s first national competition, and also her first appearance on television. “Some parts of it were really fun,” she said, as she did the photoshoot. But the actual competition was very “nerve-consuming”. “Sometimes you fall or get a little off balance and that’s it – you’re out,” she said. Yoffe said her kids all want to be ninjas now. “They’re really excited and excited.” Yoffe and her family moved from Queens, New York to Phoenix three years ago in search of a slower lifestyle. “We’re really glad we took this step,” she said. Yoffe is back at the ninja gym, preparing for her next start, and running her business, Spirit Fit Life, which is committed to helping women do this to find their strength from within. JN
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