What is this site?
Hey y'all! I'm Warith, and I was a part of Allen's class of 2024. I made this site as an alternative resource for all things Allen UIL. This should include descriptions of the many competitions offered, our practice schedule, and a mini FAQ below. Hope this helps everyone a lot!! Although I've left Allen since making this, it's now (in theory) maintained by Aidan Williams.
You should also join the Discord server for more updates and practice resources here, and follow the Instagram account to see more regular updates here.
What is Academic UIL?
UIL is the University Interscholastic League, founded as two separate competitions before merging under the acronym "UIL" in 1913. It features three primary areas: athletics, arts, and academics. The academic side of this focuses on a variety of competitions for students to show off their expertise, whether that be in STEM, a humanities competition, or even something not necessarily either!
Allen's been participating in this for a while, and in the past few years we've had some awesome results!! We were 2nd Sweepstakes in 2022 and 2024, and 1st Sweepstakes in 2023 (trophy on the right!!). We've also had multiple teams and individuals place for medals at the State meet, and even multiple champions!
How do I join?
The info meeting for 2024 - 2025 is yet to be decided, but will typically take place in late August or early September at Lowery. Feel free to contact Ms. Lanier at kathryn.lanier@allenisd.org for more info on how to join. You can also contact our co-captains: Jessie Wang (Class of 2025) and Aristaa Bhardwaj (Class of 2026).
When are competitions?
The fall semester is primarily practices, which occur on a weekly basis at either Allen High School or the Lowery Freshman Center. From January through March we start going to practice competitions called UIL Invitationals that occur throughout the DFW complex. Late March / early April introduces the UIL District competition, where we send our best to face off against cities like McKinney, Little Elm, Denton, and Prosper. Those who qualify for UIL Regionals compete in late-April against many other schools in North Texas and around DFW, and the best of the best get to travel to UT Austin for the State competition in May.
How are teams for District (and beyond) decided?
As I mentioned, we have both practice meetings and interschool competitions throughout the year. As these progress, our coaches work together to pick the best of the best from all our competitors. With some exceptions, each team sent to Districts will typically have 6 people (with some exceptions in the writing events), which is an increase from the 4 allowed prior to 2022 - 2023. These teams are typically announced the week after Spring Break, about 2 weeks prior to Districts.
These people then represent us at our District meet. The top 3 individuals and the top team in each category get the honor of advancing to Regionals, and the same advancement rules apply to get to State. It's even possible to get into multiple teams (from personal experience, the sky's the limit!).
Can I still participate even if I don't think I'm good enough?
Whether you think you're good or not, I think you should still try to give this a shot to see how it goes. Everyone, both the best and the worst, all start from a basic block and grow from learning. Even if you're entirely new at a competition, you may later realize that it's pretty interesting and that you even excel at it. Regardless, both the meetings and the competitions are a great way to learn something new, show off your newfound knowledge, and spend a nice Saturday with some friends. Everyone always has room for improvement, and that all starts just by taking the first step to try something.
