Season 12’s casting calls have officially begun!

Hey Ninjas, you better make sure the volume is up on your cell phone. The casting calls for season 12 have officially begun!

In the video below, we get a peek at Peter Szeliga, a beloved member of the casting team, making the first call of the year.

Casting submissions for American Ninja Warrior’s 12th season closed back on December 6, 2019. Every single Ninja who wanted to be considered for this upcoming season, even the superstar veterans, needed to send in an application. The casting team and producers then dug through these thousands of submissions. Decisions have been made and they’ll now place phone calls to the applicants who will be invited to the show!

This is always a stressful time of year for the American Ninja Warrior community. Thousands and thousands will apply. From that, a small percentage will get the invitation. This year will be even tougher.

The show will film in three qualifying locations for season 12: Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, MO. In D.C. and St. Louis, the show will film two qualifying segments each. That means there will be five qualifying episodes for season 12. That’s down from the six regions filmed for season 11.

Those of you who were watching back in season eight might remember why this happens. 2020 is an Olympic year, which means American Ninja Warrior will take a hiatus during it’s summer broadcast season to make way for the games.

But that will cut the overall number of Ninjas that can run the course this year, making these casting phone calls even more precious.

Good luck to all the hard-working, dedicated athletes who put themselves on the line this year! Remember, it takes time to call everyone, and the producers make phone calls by regions. It will be a bit before everyone who’ll be invited is contacted. Take to social media to let us know who gets the call!