Ninjas United — Local services in Maple Grove

My son, who is both exceptional and is challenged by his disabilities, has been receiving private lessons at Ninjas United for over a year. His anxiety can be debilitating, so extra care and patience must be given, as things can go from bad to worse very quickly when folks don't know how to address/work with him. There is something special about the the coaches who work at this facility. I have never in my entire life been around such kind, nonjudgmental, and positive people. So many times, I held my breath after my son said something inappropriate in the moment or displayed a challenging behavior, waiting for the judgment, confusion or both to cause the lesson to abruptly end (and me feeling embarrassed to return for future lessons). However, it has never been that way. The support and kindness that is given by every single coach and staff member I have met has been absolutely remarkable. Nobody has judged him or me. Everyone seems to innately understand his struggles and gives him the benefit of the doubt. His coach, Lizzie, is eons beyond her years in maturity and seems to know exactly what to do and say to get him back to a regulated, calm state and keep him motivated to complete his lesson. He always feels so much better after his lessons. This place has been an absolute godsend to our family, and I will forever be eternally grateful for Lizzie, Jen (the amazing owner who has built this community), and all the other coaches who cheer my son on, without even knowing who he is. This really is more than a ninja gym (although it totally meets that criteria!); it's a supportive community. We're blessed to be...

I cannot say enough good things about this gym and everyone who works there. We started attending back in 2019 when our son was 3 years old. One of the now owners, Jen, was his coach along with Coach Sean. The way they encouraged and taught these small children in the preschool program was nothing short of amazing. They encouraged individual growth and celebrated as each kid learned a new skill or tried something new that was hard. They emphasized growth over perfection. Now 6 years later, both of our children are on teams and still love going. Every time we are there, we marvel at how they have been able to develop a coaching team that emulates the same principals of encouragement and growth being the priority. Our kids respect their coaches because of the respect that the coaches first showed them. They are consistent and flexible, but always with the best interest of the entire group at the forefront. Our kids have learned skills that translate over to their everyday lives. They have learned that they can do hard things, to persevere in the face of a challenge and most importantly, to support those around you. You compete as an individual, but you are part of team. That means the decisions you make and how you handle yourself in practice and in a competition impact those around you and that needs to considered over your own desires. As parents, we often marvel at how Chris and Jen have been able to cultivate such a wonderful environment and to have a staff full of young people who do the same. This is a rare gem and we are blessed to be...

In regards to birthday party reservations ---

Unfortunately, from a parent's perspective, our experience was awful. I'll list the cons here first since we only had 1 pro:

CONS we were mistakenly told we'd have the "place to ourselves", ending up bringing a newborn (no apologies from the owner when I emailed) the party before us stayed in the play area for the ENTIRETY of our reservation on the gym floor from 6:15-7-45, lots of kids screaming and running while parents gathered below to chat sent an email and the owner responded with a list of justifications rather than try to understand our perspective we paid over $500 for a nerf ninja party but really shared the space with another party other parents approached me and told me it was way too loud (running and screaming from the other party)

PROS the staff was seemingly kind

TIPS they want you to make a reservation via email but CALL THEM. The communication was awful and we even went in-person the day before AND still had miscommunication. you will NOT get the place to yourself, they allow other parties to stay behind and do not care if their noise level or behaviors are affecting your experience go somewhere else --- NOT WORTH THE PRICE TAG for...