San Antonio may give us the rookie stars of American Ninja Warrior season nine

Season nine of American Ninja Warrior begins taping in just over a month. After filming first on the Universal Studios backlot in Los Angeles, the crew will head over to San Antonio, Texas for the second location.

San Antonio is a hot-bed of Ninja Warrior activity, which means we should see some pretty strong competitors. Not only do many successful veterans of the show live in or around the city, many of them also have their own obstacle gyms. This means the general population there has access to expert advice and obstacles close to what they’ll face on the show.

Kacy Catanzaro, the first woman up the Warped Wall, and Brent Steffensen, a repeat National Finalist, are managing partners at Alpha Warrior in San Antonio.

The legendary Sam Sann owns Iron Sports gym in Houston, just about three hours from San Antonio. One of the trainers there is Daniel Gil. He launched on the scene in season seven, and in season eight, made it all the way to Stage Three of the National Finals.

Thomas Stillings, AKA: GenieNinja, lives in the San Antonio area and is opening a training facility soon.

Power Park Fitness in Spring Branch, Texas is about 40 minutes from San Antonio. It’s not only a Ninja-style gym, but has a full outdoor obstacle course. The facility is owned by Vance and David Yarter, the father/son Ninja Warrior competitors.

In 2015, American Ninja Warrior used the city of Houston as a location. Since San Antonio and Houston are reasonably close together, those past episodes give us a good hint at what veterans will run in San Antonio.

Brent Steffensen

Sam Sann

Tremayne Dortch

Daniel Gil

Kacy Catanzaro

Artis Thompson III

Currently the show plans on taping in San Antonio March 26 and 27. It’s looking like we’ll have a field stacked with exciting veteran Ninjas and the city is well-positioned to generate some break out rookies.

Who are you looking forward to watching in San Antonio? Tell us in the comments.