Catholic "American Ninja Warrior" fighting world hunger, one obstacle at a time

(OSV News) -- A 19-year-old student athlete at the University of Notre Dame just competed on the televised July 14 semifinals of "American Ninja Warrior" in Las Vegas. He really isn't doing it for the glory or the chance to "go pro" as a full time ninja warrior.

"I've been training for about six years," Austin Baron told OSV News from his home in Ashburn, Virginia. "A friend suggested that I apply for the show."

Baron, who followed two older brothers to Notre Dame and is a Business Analytics major, realized that personally competing in the ANW competitions would bring together two things that he really loved: the athletic challenges of ninja warrior competitions and the chance to advocate for an end to world hunger. Millions of viewers -- on NBC, Peacock, Netflix and other platforms -- would hear about the need to feed the world's 1 billion people enduring hunger.

Baron first competed on ANW in 2023 when he was 17. He was invited to rejoin the show this summer and successfully qualified for this year's semifinals.

The passion for ninja warrior athletics originated years ago with Baron's older brother.

"He had a friend who got him into it," Baron said, "and he introduced it to the three of us. Then, for my younger brother Chase's birthday, we went to a ninja warrior's gym."

Baron was immediately hooked. He began ninja training in middle school.

"There are two main types of obstacles," this ninja warrior explained. "There are upper body obstacles for which you have to use your hands, moving from one grab bar to another. The other type involves obstacles where you have to go back with your feet, balancing and moving through an obstacle to get to the other side."

Baron said he trains in ninja gyms in Virginia, but has to rely on the rock climbing and bouldering wall at Duncan Student Center when he is back on Notre Dame's campus. There are no ninja gyms nearby.

What makes him so committed to the ninja warrior competition -- as opposed to other athletic pursuits and sports, especially those for which Notre Dame is so famous?

"I really fell in love with the ninja warrior community," he explained. "There is such respect for others even when they're competing against each other. There's this sense of helping others even while these same competitors are doing their best as well." Both men and women compete and competitors are from a variety of age groups. And some come from other countries, he added.

But it's apparently Baron's deeply held commitment to address hunger that provides the real backstory for his participation in the semifinals. That too began years ago in Virginia in the Barons' parish, St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ashburn.

"When I was 12," he recalls, "I went to an event at my parish that was providing meals for hungry people, and I learned that these meals that we were packing would be the only food that they'd have to eat!" Austin was stunned.

The event was sponsored by Cross Catholic Outreach, an American organization founded in the U.S. in 2001. It has helped to provide food, access to clean water and housing in more than 90 countries throughout the world. After that eye-opening experience, Baron says, "I wanted to do something more to help them. I started to fund-raise so that we could send more meals."

With the help of his family, he started a little business making rope toys for dogs. He said he watched a YouTube video to find out how to do it. Apparently, the family's two dogs -- Shamrock and Crash -- thought the resulting rope toys were pretty good.

He called his new company "Knot Perfect." When he was in high school, he got help from his family, particularly his mother, to make Knot Perfect a 501(c)(3) nonprofit -- knotperfect.org. By 2025, entrepreneur Austin Baron had made more than 1,500 dog toys.

According to a June 26, 2025 news release from the University of Notre Dame about Baron's American Ninja Warrior competition, Knot Perfect has already raised over $30,000, providing more than 100,000 meals to children and families around the world. Supporters of his efforts can contribute to Knot Perfect at its website.

But how does this exceptionally committed and altruistic college student hope to inspire others to also work to end world hunger? He admits that many will respond: "World hunger is too big a problem for me to deal with; what good are my cans of soup and tuna, and a box or two of pasta given at my church every week?"

"What I'm trying to do," Baron responded, "is to take something that I love to do -- being involved in ANW competitions and making dog toys -- and combining it with my mission to feed the hungry. So, that's what I'd suggest to other people. Combine the things that you love to do with your mission. And then, rely on God, knowing that he will be guiding you along the way."

Baron is heading to the ANW finals after the July 14 semifinals, where he has a chance to win this year's $250,000 prize and the title of "American Ninja Warrior."

He's made it very clear that if he wins, his prize money will go to promote that amazing goal -- feeding the world's 1 billion hungry people.