Ella McRitchie is a pair of tights and a cool lair away from being a superhero.

The 13-year-old Woodward Middle School seventh-grader is a tough, brainy and driven — and an aspiring American Ninja Warrior.

So, bad guys, commence your quaking. Just as soon as she finishes her homework, that is.

The fleet, fit island teen is one of about 200 kids set to take on the iconic course — complete with warped walls, salmon ladders and the Sonic Swing, among other ominously titled obstacles — in a new spin-off of the hit extreme sports competition show. Now in its 10th season, the adult version (itself based on the Japanese TV series “Sasuke”) sees hundreds of competitors attempting to complete a series of obstacle courses, always increasing in difficulty, throughout various cities across the country, with winners advancing to the national finals in Las Vegas and (hopefully) becoming an “American Ninja Warrior.”

So far only two competitors have finished the course and achieved “Total Victory.”

Then again, Ella was never old enough to give it a shot. Until now.

“American Ninja Warrior Junior” premiers at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13 on Universal Kids (check with your TV provider for channel information).

In it, would-be ninjas from across the nation will face off on the same courses in three age brackets (9/10, 11/12, and 13/14), each coached by an All Star Ninja mentor.

Three final winners, one per age bracket, will be crowned the first-ever American Ninja Warrior Junior Champion.

It’s a development, apparently, long in demand.

“Over the last number of years, we have received an outpouring of letters and videos asking when is there going to be a ninja show for kids? Well, the time is now,” said Arthur Smith, executive producer of the American Ninja Warrior franchise. “People are going to be amazed at how talented and dedicated these young ninjas are. They’re remarkable, and to know that they’ve been inspired by our show is immensely gratifying.”

Ella said she never wrote any letters asking about a kid version, but competing in the adult show had been a longtime aspiration of hers since she began watching regularly with her father years ago. Then, when she heard via Instagram that a kid version was in the works and taking applications, she grabbed a camera and headed to her backyard obstacle course.

Yeah, that’s right. Her backyard course.

Her dad built it for her, and Ella can regularly be found out there on weekends and in the evening working her way through it, narrowed eyes ever cast toward a faster finish, with better execution.

“I just give myself challenges,” she said. “I don’t really listen to music or anything, but I give myself challenges that are like usually almost impossible and I never do [them].

“I climb every other day of the week, plus Thursday. I don’t climb on weekends or Tuesday. [I] just ninja whenever I can in my backyard, in spare time.”

Ella’s been climbing since she was 6-years-old, and climbing competitive since she was 10, which naturally gave her a leg — and an arm and a shoulder — up in the competition.

“I feel like it’s really similar in a lot of ways, and also the finger strength and stuff really helps,” she said. “I guess I’d say I’m pretty strong in general, especially because of climbing.”

Though athleticism runs in the family, even Ella’s mother is regularly surprised by her daughter’s particular pursuits.

“We don’t rock climb or do crazy things like she does,” Melissa McRitchie said. “We’re not a ninja family.”

“[Ella] just always loved a challenge,” she added. “She loves to be busy with challenges and it’s amazing to watch her; it’s amazing what she can do on the course.”

The show’s producers clearly thought so, too, as Ella was picked from among many thousands of applicants. For more reasons that one, it seems.

“Whenever they interviewed her in the show, they wanted to know more about her math, because not as many girls are often really good at math and she really excels in math so they asked a lot about that,” McRitchie said.

She got the fateful call saying her daughter had made the cut while shopping alone in Safeway, a moment she still laughs when recounting.

“They were pretty vague on when we’d find out, so I wasn’t really expecting it,” McRitchie said. I was pretty shocked … 10,000 people applied, so when I got the call I was like, ‘What? Really? Oh my God.’”

“I wasn’t there,” Ella recalled. “I was being lazy and watching TV, I think. And then they called me down for dinner and it was crazy.”

Filming took place in Los Angeles in July, and the entire McRitchie family — parents, Ella, and her 5-year-old sister — who have lived on Bainbridge for 12 years, made the trek south. They’ve been sitting on the carefully guarded results ever since.

“I’m not really allowed to say how I did,” Ella said. “I’m proud of myself for sure. I think I did pretty well.

“It’s so hard not telling anybody; so many people ask.”

Soon, however, all shall be reveled. In fact, Island Rock Gym (9437 Coppertop Loop NE) is hosting a free public viewing of the debut episode. Visit www.islandrockgym.com/online-registration to RSVP.

The in-training ninja, who thinks nothing of scaling massive obstacles and risking injury for glory, squirms a bit at the thought of being watched by so many of her friends.

“It’s weird, [but] it’s cool though,” Ella said. “I’m excited to see how well I did, actually what I look like.”

As for the adult show, she still has her sights set on that goal, among others.

“I just love watching it every year,” she said. “I like just challenges, obstacles and stuff, and also I just like competitions and athletics.

“I want to be a medical researcher when I grow up, and then also I want to try to compete on the adult show.”

If the whole medical researcher thing doesn’t pan out, Bainbridge Island’s own American Ninja Warrior has a backup plan.

Not a superhero exactly, she said, but to become “maybe a pro rock climber?”