Wharton Global Youth Partners with the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative to Launch a New High School Data Science Competition
January 2024 — Attention all you fierce high school competitors out there (both teachers and students)! We know you love sports and many of you also crave the camaraderie and challenge of a serious business competition. Have we got an experience for you.
The Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative (WSABI), with support from the Wharton Global Youth Program (both located at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania), is hosting the Wharton High School Data Science Competition: Soccer Playoff Predictions.
Using comprehensive data from a simulated professional soccer league, teams of high school students will crunch the numbers and make win-loss predictions about the league’s playoffs. This is a free opportunity for students to learn team building and problem-solving through sports analytics. The competition will take part in three phases that begin once registration is closed (registration opens January 8 and ends January 28, 2024). Each team of 3-5 students must be enrolled in the same high school and have an advisor from their school or district. Advisors, not students, are required to register for the competition.
“This competition was designed to channel students’ passion for sports to help them gain a greater understanding of data science and statistics in a way that’s fun and relatable.” –Adi Wyner, Competition Co-creator
Adi Wyner, a Wharton professor of statistics and data science and co-director of WSABI, is the driving force, along with his team, behind this new competition for high school students.
“As a statistician and lifelong sports fanatic, I believe that the Wharton High School Data Science Competition reflects the type of opportunity I wish I had when I was in high school,” said Wyner, who leads Wharton Global Youth’s Moneyball Academy, online Moneyball Academy Training Camp and Moneyball Academy Training Camp FLEX, all for high school students. “This competition was designed from the ground up to channel the students’ passion for sports to help them gain a greater understanding of data science and statistics in a way that’s fun and relatable. Our team has done a tremendous job developing an engaging, approachable, and rewarding curriculum for these students, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with.”
Registration for the global team-based competition begins January 8, 2024. Be sure to explore the website to get all the game details, related learning materials, and policies – and then REGISTER. Remember, only advisors can register teams, not students. Our first launch of the competition is a pilot, so space is limited. If registration exceeds 200 teams, then teams will be selected by a lottery system. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to develop your data analysis and predictions skills!
