ABOUT YCL
Access, Inclusion, and Coding for All
The Youth Coding League is an innovative, project-based introduction to computer science using a youth sports model and cutting-edge, industry-informed curriculum, fully-packaged for community organizations and schools, from training to gear and prize distribution, that runs in and is led by your community every fall and spring.
Decked out in team gear customized to your community, coders can track their stats both individually or as a team at YouthCodingLeague.com and compete against other teams in a playoff series with big prizes on the line.
No coding experience is required for coaches or coders, and the program takes place in your community with the full support of dedicated Youth Coding League staff.
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What Youth Coding League Coaches are Saying
The Youth Coding League's Focus
Concepts, Skills, and Competition
Coders in grades 5-8th learn key computer science principles in a weekly project-based regular season, and showcase their new skills with teammates in postseason competition against teams from across the U.S.
Industry-Informed
YCL curriculum is designed by computer science educators in conjunction with industry professionals, ensuring that coders are learning practical skills and see how they can be applied both now and in the future.
Access
Coders of all backgrounds with all levels of academic achievement, with or without coding experience, will find success and foundational computer science knowledge in the YCL.
Inclusion
Each season, an innovative, creative curriculum theme is presented in an approachable, research-based method that appeals to young people from all walks of life.
Self-Efficacy
Inspired by athletic team programs, YCL provides a personal connection for youth from varied interests and aptitudes that helps develop confidence, engagement, resiliency, and supports the development of friendships with their teammates.
How the Youth Coding League Works
The Youth Coding League runs every Fall and Spring. Each season includes a regular season and a postseason, with coders meeting weekly for 1.5-2 hours at a time through the season.
Curriculum
Each season, YCL coders work through a new curriculum theme over the course of 9 weeks. The YCL curriculum is designed by computer science educators and industry experts in alignment with educational standards. Coders build creative projects while learning the basics of computer science and coding.
Entrepreneurship
Food
Greater Good
Space
Game Design
More in Active Development
Regular Season
- The regular season is 9-weeks long, and takes coders through a structured curriculum where they learn the basics of computer science and coding. During each sprint as coders learn a new coding concept and learn directly from industry professionals, they immediately apply that concept on a creative project they build out in Scratch.
- “Epics” present additional challenges for each sprint, and give coders a chance to sharpen their skills and earn badges. Add-ons provide more opportunities for coders needing additional challenges.
- The YCL teams scores these projects, and the coders scores go live at YouthCodingLeague.com each week; here, coders can see how they rank in a national leaderboard both individually and as part of a team, and can check on their progress on their coder profiles.
- The top 10 individual coders are awarded at the conclusion of each season.
Postseason
- After a regular season filled with core computer science concepts, coders group up and build a project using a broad prompt (with plenty of room for creative license) over the course of a few weeks.
- These group projects showcase everything the coders learned in the regular season and are entered into a competitive postseason playoff series, with big prizes on the line, like laptops, drones, movie projectors, and more.
- Prizes are shipped directly to the teams, with coders receiving prizes for their own individual use.
- The playoffs are virtual, bracket-style competitions with multiple ways to win:
Community Favorite
Technical Merit
Most-Improved
Community Favorite
One project is selected as its’ team champion in the preliminary round, and that project goes on to compete against all of the other projects in the league. The project receiving the most votes from their community progresses to the next round.
This category is a great opportunity for coders to feel valued by their communities, and for communities to highlight the investment they’re making in their young people.
Technical Merit
Technical Merit track projects from across the league are evaluated anonymously by industry professionals who score for code proficiency and skill. Projects with the highest scores move on from round to round.
In addition, one coder from each team is recognized by their coach for showing the most improvement throughout the season.
Not a CS Expert? Not a Problem!
- Training is self-paced, quick, and remote.
- You aren’t in this alone, and we back that up with quick, responsive support and dedicated Youth Coding League team members who are invested in the success of your team and are here to help.
- A streamlined dashboard just for YCL coaches is at your fingertips, where every document, date, and more is organized and ready.
- The YCL is full-time for our team, but it’s extracurricular for you, and whenever we can lighten the load of the coaches we work with, we do it.
- The Youth Coding League is fully-packaged—there’s not a single worksheet you’ll need to create. From start to finish, we set you up to enjoy the light bulbs going off over your coders’ heads while we do the heavy lifting.
Ready to Get Started?
What We Need From Communities to Make the Youth Coding League a Success for Your Coders
- An educator, staff member, or engaged volunteer excited about bringing coding skills to your coders with time to commit to a team - about 2 hours a week for the duration of 13-week long Fall and Spring seasons.
- A group of coders ready to compete as a team all season long and learn the basics of computer science. An ideal team size is around 15-20, and teams can be as small as 5.
- Your community’s investment of $2,500/semester for a team of up to 15 coders, with half of the participation pay heading back your way via coach stipend, coder gear, and more.
Are you in? Let’s go! The YCL team is ready to get you started—connect via email with director Stacy Lane, or schedule a time to talk it through.
What Students and Parents are Saying About YCL
Ready?
By bringing the Youth Coding League to your school or organization, you aren’t just giving your kids another extracurricular activity. You’re giving students a whole new purpose, highly sought-after career skills, better grades, and future-ready skills—and we can’t wait to be a part of your school or organization community, so let’s do this!
Next Steps
- Book a call with Stacy to talk through specifics.
- We’ll talk through coach selection and team formation, do some paperwork, and be ready to go when coach trainings begin right before the start of your next semester.
- Looking for materials to share with other decision-makers at your child’s school or organization? Check out the materials below:
FAQ
What does the Youth Coding League cost?
Participation costs start at $2,500 per semester.
Can my YCL team only participate in one season a year?
Absolutely! Most of our teams participate year round, but some pick either the Fall or Spring season to join in.
How many coders are typically on a team?
15-20 coders per team is a great team size, but we have had teams as large as 60 and as small as 5.
Do coaches receive any payment for their time?
We offer stipends to our hard-working coaches, ranging from $400-$600 per coach. If your organization has paid staff and need to forgo the stipend for any reason, we can make that work too!
What happens if we have too many coders for one coach?
Our pricing model allows for more stipends to be paid to another co-coach as teams grow in size, if you have another coach willing to lead.
What curriculum do you use?
We built our own curriculum, designed by a high school coding educator with years of experience in close conjunction with industry pros with their current, inside knowledge of computer programming. Our curriculum aligns with well-regarded CS standards.
What other teams are participating?
Check out our most recent roster here.
What age groups does the YCL cover?
5th and 6th grades make up the middle school division, and 7th and 8th grades make up the junior high division.
Who runs the Youth Coding League?
The Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation, working to eliminate the skills and opportunity gaps preventing workers and entrepreneurs in rural regions from thriving in the digital economy. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based out of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.