President Donald Trump's inaugural Patriot Games, a nationally televised teen athletic competition tied to the country's 250th anniversary, will bring together one male and one female high school athlete from each state, territory and tribal nation for a "military-inspired boot camp circuit" and made-for-TV takes on classic American sports, according to recruitment materials reviewed by the New York Post and the organizing group Freedom 250, which announced the event.

The competition, set for Aug. 9-11 with a one-hour ESPN on ABC primetime special on Aug. 13, will be hosted by SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio, a sprawling training complex in Ashtabula County.

Applications closed July 10 for athletes ages 14 to 17.

Freedom 250, the White House-linked nonprofit leading the administration's semiquincentennial slate, says a $250,000 scholarship prize pool will be split between one male and one female champion, with each winner receiving $125,000. All participants get an all-expenses-paid trip to the venue for themselves and one chaperone.

Recruitment emails reviewed by the New York Post describe rounds that will "test excellence in skillsets of beloved American sports," including football, basketball, soccer, and track, as well as strength, endurance, agility, and strategy challenges.

Organizers have said the culmination will feature an obstacle course designed around strategy and skill, and a consultant tied to "American Ninja Warrior" has been retained.

Freedom 250 has not released the full event schedule.

Actor Dean Cain, who played Superman on the 1990s series "Lois & Clark" and once competed on "American Gladiators," has been promoting the event online.

"It's kind of like the 'Ninja Warrior' games," Cain told the Post. "It encourages patriotism. I think it encourages fitness and competition. Those are all wonderful things."

A former Princeton safety, Cain also brushed aside "Hunger Games" comparisons from online critics: "We're not going to kill anybody. People are actually asking to be there. We don't ask for tribute."

Trump first unveiled the Patriot Games in a December 2025 video, saying, "there will be no men playing in women's sports."

He previewed the competition again during the June opening ceremony of the Great American State Fair in Washington. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was tapped to help lead the initiative.

Freedom 250 spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez, who is separately pushing back on House Democratic allegations about donor solicitations for the group, told the Post the competition was "really the president's idea," adding that Trump "wanted to highlight what the next generation brings to the table."

She said the challenges would test "strength and speed" alongside "skill and strategy," and that ESPN is expected to build reality-style profiles of finalists from their video applications.

The Patriot Games join a lineup of Freedom 250 events that have already drawn scrutiny, including a June 14 UFC card staged on the White House South Lawn on Trump's 80th birthday.

The president, a frequent presence at marquee sporting events during his current term, is expected to attend the Ohio finale.