UIL Teams
Home
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) was created by The University of Texas at Austin to provide leadership and guidance to public school debate and athletic teachers. Since 1910 the UIL has grown into the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world. The UIL continues to operate as part of the University of Texas, under the auspices of the Vice President for Diversity & Community Engagement.
The UIL exists to provide educational extracurricular academic, athletic, and music contests. The initials UIL have come to represent quality educational competition administered by school people on an equitable basis.
Why Have Interschool Activities?
TEAMWORK. Participation teaches that it is a privilege and an honor to represent one's school. Students learn to win and to lose; to take as well as to give. Self-motivation and intellectual curiosity are essential to the best academic participants. Physical training and good health habits are essential to the best athletes.
Interscholastic competition is a fine way to encourage youngsters to enrich their education and expand their horizons. Leadership and citizenship experiences through interschool activities help prepare students for a more useful and wholesome life.
And it's fun!
A+ Academics is the 2nd-8th grade UIL program
Every great journey begins with a first step, and the visionaries who built the League recognized that the first steps toward educational excellence must begin early. Academic competition for younger students was a part of the UIL program almost from the beginning, with the first junior division Declamation contest for students aged 10-14 in 1913. The first competition for students under age 10 was Spelling, which began a sub-junior division in 1921.
The program of academic competition for elementary, middle school and junior high officially became "A+ Academics" in 2008. A+ Academics includes 20 different events for grades 2-8. These events span the curriculum - they are designed to complement and expand upon what students learn in the classroom, both through learning specific subject knowledge, and through learning skills that are valuable in many disciplines. Approximately 3,000 Texas schools participate in A+ Academics, competing in more than 300 district meets each year.
