The University Interscholastic League, the main governing body for academic, athletic, and music competition among public schools in the U.S. state of Texas, sanctions many events for students in grades 2 to 12.
Competition in grades 2–8 is limited to district only. Competition in grades 9–12 advances (in most cases) from district to region to state.
In addition to individual and team awards in the separate contest events, schools are also eligible to win an overall district academic championship award and/or an overall district spring meet sweepstakes award (the latter combines the results of the academic events with the results of singles tennis, doubles tennis, mixed doubles tennis, individual track and field events, relay track events, and team golf). Generally, points are awarded to each school for individuals placing first through sixth place and for teams placing first or second, plus additional points for certain academic contests. Overall academic championship awards are also given at the regional and state level using the same point system.
Schools also compete for the Lone Star Cup, which is awarded to one school statewide in each conference. Points for the Lone Star Cup are awarded in a different manner than for the academic or spring meet championship awards described above and include results of state-level academic, athletic, and music competitions.
For fine arts and journalism contests, the UIL has not adopted an "amateur rule.” Thus, students who have acted or performed professionally or who have written for a local newspaper may still compete in UIL-sanctioned contests provided they are otherwise eligible.
Academic events
High school
Events Events below have both team and individual components unless specifically noted otherwise. Sanctioned high school academic events are:
Accounting Animation (can be done individually or with a team) Digital Animation Traditional Animation Calculator Applications Computer Applications (individual competition only) Computer Science Current Issues and Events Film (can be done individually or with a team) Documentary Narrative Literary Criticism Mathematics Number Sense Ready Writing (individual competition only) Science Social Studies Spelling and Vocabulary Speech (an award is given to the top overall school in speech events; the award does not qualify students for advancement) Cross-Examination Team Debate (team competition only) Lincoln-Douglas Debate (individual competition only) Congressional Debate (individual competition only) Extemporaneous Informative Speaking (individual competition only) Extemporaneous Persuasive Speaking (individual competition only) Poetry Interpretation (individual competition only) Prose Interpretation (individual competition only) Journalism (an award is given to the top overall school in journalism events; the award does not qualify students for advancement) Editorial Writing (individual competition only) Feature Writing (individual competition only) Headline Writing (individual competition only) News Writing (individual competition only) One-Act Play (team competition plus individual awards that do not lead to advancement) (List of Previous Texas UIL One Act Play Winners)
Entry limitations Each UIL member school is allowed to enter between 3 and 6 students in most events, depending on the specific rules for the event. Schools may enter up to three two-member teams in Cross-Examination Team Debate, except that if a school's UIL district has less than eight teams entered it may enter a fourth team. One-Act Plays may have up to 15 cast members plus 5 crew members. Each school may enter one play for competition, except that if a school's UIL district has three or less plays entered each school in that district may be allowed to enter a second play.
Competition format Academic events at the high school level are held in the spring. Schools compete within the same conference as in athletics and marching band.
There is no division of competition by grade level in high school academic events; all students in grades 9–12 that compete in a particular event compete against each other. Advancement is from district to region to state except in Cross-Examination Team Debate, where advancement is directly from district to state, and in One-Act Play, where advancement is from district to area to region to state. Furthermore, districts with eight or more competing schools may subdivide into zones and hold One-Act Play competitions in each zone in order to select schools to advance to the district level.
Except for Cross-Examination Team Debate and One-Act Play, the top three individuals and all members of the first place team (for events with team components) are certified to advance to the next level of competition. The UIL has also adopted a "wild card" system for those events with team components, which is made possible since all test materials are uniform throughout the state. Under the wild card system, the highest scoring second place team from among all districts in each region will advance to the region meet, and the highest scoring second place team from all four regions in each conference will advanced to the state meet. In the Science competition, in addition to the top three individuals and top team, the top scorers in each of the three subject areas of biology, chemistry, and physics also advance to the next level of competition. All students who advance to the next level of competition are eligible to earn individual medals, even if they advanced as part of a team or as one of the Science top subject area scorers.
In Cross-Examination Team Debate, the first and second place teams in each district advance directly to state, though additional qualification criteria must be met depending on the number of teams entered and the number of schools represented in the district meet. In One-Act Play, two unranked plays from each level of competition are selected to advance with plays only being ranked at the state meet.
In order to determine the school with the best overall school in a conference, points are awarded to the top six finishers and top two teams. Certain events also have bonus points, and in many cases an event will have a cap to the maximum number of points a school can be awarded.
Elementary
Events Each event is offered for different grade levels and has divisions as noted. Sanctioned elementary and junior high school academic events are: Art (two divisions for grades 4–6 and 7–8) Calculator Applications (one division for grades 6–8) Chess Problem Solving (grades 2–8) Creative Writing (one division for grade 2 only) Dictionary Skills (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8) Editorial Writing (one division for grades 7–8) Impromptu Speaking (one division for grades 6–8) Listening (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8) Maps, Graphs & Charts (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8) Mathematics (one division for grades 6–8) Modern Oratory (one division for grades 6–8) Music Memory (two divisions for grades 3–4 and 5–6) Number Sense (two divisions for grades 4–6 and 7–8) One-Act Play (one division for grades 6–8) Oral Reading (two divisions for grades 4–6 and 7–9) Ready Writing (three divisions for grades 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8) Science I and II (grades 7 and 8, respectively) Social Studies (two divisions for grades 5–6 and 7–8) Spelling (three divisions for grades 3–4, 5–6, and 7–8) Storytelling (one division for grades 2–3)
Entry limitations Each UIL member school may enter between 3 and 5 students in each division of each event, depending on the specific rules for the event. One-Act Play rules and entry guidelines for junior high are commensurate with those for high school.
Competition format Elementary and junior high school district academic meets may be held in either the fall or the spring, but not both. Elementary and junior high students competing in academic events cannot advance beyond the district level. Events that are available for four or more grade levels are divided into two or three divisions based on grade level, though district executive committees may create separate divisions for each grade level if they wish. Rules allow students to compete in a division for older students if they wish. Science I is for 7th-graders and Science II is for 8th-graders; while students in 6th grade may enter Science I and students in 7th grade may enter Science II, no student can compete in Science I or II for more than one year.
Athletic events
Sports Sanctioned sports are: Baseball (co-ed, though traditionally for boys) Basketball (boys' and girls') Cross Country (boys' and girls', team and individual) Football (co-ed, though traditionally for boys) Six-Man Football (co-ed, though traditionally for boys; only available for Conference A schools with enrollments below a defined level) Golf (boys' and girls', team and individual) Soccer (boys' and girls'; Conferences AAAA, AAAAA, and AAAAAA only) Softball (girls' only) Swimming and Diving (boys' and girls', team and individual; Conferences AAAA, AAAAA, and AAAAAA only) Team Tennis (boys' and girls' combined; Conferences AAAA, AAAAA, and AAAAAA only) Tennis (boys' and girls' singles and doubles, plus mixed doubles) Track and Field (boys' and girls', team and individual) Volleyball (girls' only) Water Polo (boys' and girls'; Conference AAAAAA only) Wrestling (boys' and girls', individual only; Conferences AAAA, AAAAA, and AAAAAA only)
In schools that offer only boys' basketball and/or boys' soccer with no corresponding girls' teams, girls may participate on the boys' teams. Girls may also participate in baseball but may not compete in both baseball and softball in the same season. Conference A schools that are eligible to play six-man football may instead choose to play traditional 11-man football, but schools may not compete in both sports and they must play the same sport for both years of the district alignment period.
Cross country, football, six-man football, team tennis, and volleyball compete during the fall semester. Basketball overlaps both the fall and spring semesters. Baseball, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and wrestling compete during the spring semester.
Competition format UIL athletic competition is held in grades 7–12.
At the junior high level (grades 7–8), there is no athletic competition beyond the district level. Sixth grade students may only compete in athletics if they will be too old the following year to compete on a seventh-grade team or if a junior high school has too few seventh- and eighth-grade students to field a combined team. With only a few exceptions due to disability, sixth-graders are not allowed to compete in individual sports.
High school team sports compete at freshman, junior varsity, and varsity levels, with only varsity teams being eligible for advancement to the playoffs beyond the district level. Students may only compete in team and individual sports at the high school varsity level for four years and must be under the age of 19, though the age restriction may be waived by state-level officers in certain circumstances. In addition, varsity athletes must adhere to a whole host of other rules that encompass parent residence, amateur status, non-recruitment, and steroid testing.
In football, six-man football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, baseball, and softball, teams compete for the state championship through a playoff system, with each district entitled to 2–4 playoff representatives depending on the sport and conference (within each sport and conference, every district has equal representation). In cross country, golf, swimming and diving, team tennis, tennis, track and field, and wrestling, students and teams compete in meets/tournaments advancing from district to region to state.
Music events
Events Sanctioned music events are: Marching band (List of Texas UIL State Marching Band Competition Winners)