Wharton High School Data Science Competition:
Soccer Playoff Predictions

Rules

• Student teams must be comprised of members from the same high school and be current high school students. If the high school has various branches, teams must be comprised of students and an advisor from the same branch.
• “High school” is typically secondary-level (no younger than 14, no older than 18 at the start of the competition), pre-university education, as defined by country (e.g., generally 9th – 12th grade in the United States).
• Home-schooled students or privately tutored students working towards a G.E.D. (high school diploma) or non-U.S. equivalent may also compete.
  • A written request to form a team of home-schooled students must be submitted to data-comp@wharton.upenn.edu and approved by the Wharton High School Data Science Competition staff prior to registering.
  • If a team of home-schooled students advances to the Semifinals, each student will be required to provide one of the following items:
    • Dated copy of a letter of intent to homeschool from the parent to the state or county in
      which the student resides,
    • Copy of the current membership ID to a homeschool association,
    • Or, dated proof of purchase of curriculum for the current academic school year.
  • Additionally, home-schooled students are permitted to join a school-based team as long as the student lives in the school district of the team they are joining. Should the team advance to the Semifinals, the home-schooled student will be required to provide one of the items listed in the previous paragraph.
• Participants who have earned a high school/secondary school diploma before the competition begins on February 2, 2024, will be disqualified.
• Children of University of Pennsylvania faculty or staff are eligible to participate as long as their parent or guardian is not part of the competition judging committee.
• Any plagiarism or other form of cheating is considered a violation of the Wharton High School Data Science Competition policies. See Integrity and Code of Conduct policies below.

• Each team is required to have an advisor, who must be a teacher/educator employed by the high school of their student’s team.
• An advisor can oversee only one team, even if they are employed at multiple schools.
• An advisor is responsible for registering their team. Students are NOT permitted to register for the competition on their own behalf or on behalf of their team. If this rule is violated, the team will not be permitted to compete.
• The use of paid advisors, educational consultants, or other agents is prohibited. Similarly, participants may not enroll in any non-Wharton, extracurricular “course” (online or in-person) claiming to “teach” the Wharton High School Data Science Competition. Teams suspected by the Wharton School of using paid advisors, education consultants, extracurricular coursework, or other agents will be disqualified from the competition. The Wharton School may enlist its employees, third-party private investigatory firms, and/or forensic analysts to ensure that all teams are competing fairly and in compliance with the restrictions noted above.
• Teams are not permitted to change their advisor. If a team needs to change their advisor due to extenuating circumstances, a written request must first be submitted to and approved by the Wharton High School Data Science Competition staff (data-comp@wharton.upenn.edu). Teams attempting to change their advisor without submitting a written request may be eliminated from the competition.
• More information about the role of the advisor is available here.

• Each team must maintain a minimum of three team members and a maximum of five members from the very start of the competition.
• All team members must be enrolled in the same school (with the exception of home-schooled students)
• Only one team per school/school branch may compete.
• Teams will be able to select a team name in the pre-Phase 1 check-in. Teams should choose their own names and have fun with it. Please use good judgment. Team names that use offensive or vulgar language, as determined by the Wharton School in its sole discretion, may be automatically disqualified. The Wharton School reserves the right to contact teams to mandate changes in team names that it deems inappropriate.
• Teams can add or delete members until February 19, 2024, when pre-Phase 1 submissions are due: team names and final rosters are submitted as part of the pre-Phase 1 check-in. After March 3, if a team needs to drop team members due to extenuating circumstances, the advisor must submit a written request to the Wharton High School Data Science Competition staff (data-comp@wharton.upenn.edu) who will confirm approval of the drop within 5 business days. Teams that drop team members without approval will be eliminated from the competition.

• Each team must submit a complete set of predictions during Phase 1 of the competition to be considered an “active” team, that is eligible to advance to the Semifinals. The top 25 teams selected based on the strength of their final reports will be selected as semifinalists.
• Along with Phase 1 submission, teams will need to include documentation from their high school (on official school letterhead) indicating they have permission to compete and that all students and the advisor
  are affiliated with the school.
• Phase 2 or Semifinals: Participation in the Semifinals requires the submission of a slide deck with
  a description of their findings.
• Phase 3 or Finals: Participation in the Finals centers on the presentation of the semifinal slide deck. Please refer to the Deliverables and Judging Criteria and Timeline pages for additional details and due dates.
• Please note that the Finals are entirely virtual and will be held on Zoom. All teams are responsible for connecting in real-time to their Finals presentation, using their own technology.

• All students on teams that submit and meet the minimum requirements of both deliverables will receive feedback following Phase 1 and participation certificates in April 2024. All semifinalists and finalists will also receive special certificates recognizing their achievements.
• Each member of the 1st-place team will receive a 1st-place trophy, an opportunity to attend the Moneyball Academy: Training Camp, Moneyball Academy: Training Camp FLEX online program (Summer) or enrollment in a Global Youth Program Online Course: Future of the Business World, Essentials of Leadership free of charge, 1st-place certificates, and swag.
• Each member of the 2nd-place team will receive a 2nd-place trophy, virtual access to a Moneyball Academy guest speaker session, certificates, and swag.
• Each member of the 3rd-place team will receive a 3rd-place trophy, certificates, and swag.
• All top-5 teams and their teacher-advisors are provided certificates.
• No prize substitutions are permitted except at the sole discretion of Analytics at Wharton and Wharton Global Youth Program, in which case a prize (or portion of the prize) of equal or greater value may be awarded. Prize(s) are not redeemable for cash. Contest and prizes void where prohibited.

Ethics are an essential aspect of data management. We expect you to read these rules and apply them to all you do throughout the competition.

All Wharton High School Data Science Competition team members are held to the highest personal ethical standards. The decisions you make from the moment you register for the competition should be honest and truthful to the best of your ability. This starts with your number of team members (you must have always at least three active members to compete) and ends with how you articulate your winning team choices in your final presentations — and includes everything in between. We trust that you will not fabricate analyses, compensate advisors, education consultants, or other agents, enroll in non-Wharton extracurricular courses that claim to “teach” the competition, or plagiarize. If at any point you are unsure about a decision or situation, please reach out to the Wharton High School Data Science Competition team (data-comp@wharton.upenn.edu) for clarification.

Students must abide by the University of Pennsylvania’s Code of Academic Integrity, which states a student’s work must be their own, and not be plagiarized from any other source, including advisors or “unofficial” advisors. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of another’s words or ideas as if they are one’s own. Plagiarism and any kind of academic cheating are grounds for dismissal from the competition. If at any point you are unsure about a decision or situation, please reach out to the Wharton High School Data Science Competition staff (data-comp@wharton.upenn.edu) for clarification.

Each team is required to properly cite any sources used and acknowledge ownership of all images and other media that it submits as part of a deliverable or a presentation that it (or a team member) does not own or did not solely develop. While the use of generative AI is permitted, know that mistakes are possible should you choose to incorporate AI and you will still be expected to explain the logic and reasoning behind your approach. Submitted materials that violate any laws or intellectual property restrictions, are offensive, incite violence, or are otherwise deemed inappropriate for viewing by the public (for purposes of this competition) will not be accepted. Regardless of whether a team is selected as a finalist, each team (and/or the students on such team) retains ownership of their own work.

The Wharton School reserves the right to engage its employees and third-party private investigatory firms and/or forensic analysts to ensure compliance with the foregoing restrictions, and to ensure that all teams are competing fairly.

This Wharton High School Data Science Competition Code of Conduct extends to how students and advisors treat teammates, supervisors, and the competition organizers. We expect teams to behave politely and respectfully through virtual, email, and social media interactions, and to communicate any concerns or grievances with a courteous tone and language. The Wharton School will not tolerate negative, threatening, or offensive behavior of any kind, and will sanction or disqualify teams for any such behavior at its sole discretion.

The University of Pennsylvania, the policies of which govern the competition, prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.