Owns the
Team
Set priorities, make decisions, keep the team aligned and make the final case.
Ballathon — The Innovation Competition for College Athletes
Ballathon takes the proven hackathon model and rebuilds it around the skills, culture and competitive instincts of college athletes.
Innovation Competition
Leadership Development
Talent Identification
What is Ballathon?
Compete like an athlete. Innovate like an entrepreneur.
Ballathon brings college athletes and students together in four-person teams representing their schools to solve real-world challenges under pressure.
Every team is built around and led by a Division I college athlete. The other three players are students — athletes or non-athletes — who join through pre-registration or by being drafted from the talent pool. Every player owns a position, and every team competes against other schools, and the clock, to prove its solution deserves to go further.
Built Around a D1 Athlete
Every team is led by a Division I college athlete who serves as Captain. The team is built around them.
Represent Your School
Build a four-person team from your university and compete for your school.
Join or Get Drafted
Non-athlete students join a team through pre-registration or by being drafted from the talent pool.
Play Your Position
Every player owns a critical part of the team's success: Alignment, Product, Growth or Operations.
Take On a Real Challenge
The Challenge drops at Kickoff. From there, your team decides how to use its time, talent and resources.
Make Your Case
Build it. Test it. Gather evidence. Then convince the judges your solution deserves to continue.
The Challenge
What does it take to win?
You don't win Ballathon with the best idea. You win by making the strongest case.
01
A Problem Worth Solving
Show us why it matters.
02
A Solution Worth Pursuing
Show us what you would do about it.
03
Evidence That Supports It
Show us why we should believe you.
04
A Team That Can Make It Real
Show us why you should be given the resources to keep going.
How it works
From Pregame to Postgame
Assess→Build Your Team→Pregame→Kickoff→Compete→Scrimmage→Final Whistle→Tell Us→Defend It→Prove It→Postgame
The Challenge stays secret until Kickoff. From there, the Game Clock is running.
See the Full WeekendPositions
Four players. Four positions. One team.
The Captain is a Division I college athlete. Every player leads their position.
Owns the
Solution
Turn the team's idea into something people can see, understand and believe in.
Owns the
Evidence
Understand the problem, users and market and find the evidence that proves the team is on the right track.
Owns the
Resources
Figure out what the team needs, how to get it and what it will take to make the solution viable.
Intercollegiate Competition
Your team. Your school. Your ranking.
Ballathon isn't just a weekend competition. Every event contributes to a growing national intercollegiate competition.
Teams represent their universities. Results follow them from Ballathon to Ballathon. The best performances earn their place on the National Intercollegiate Leaderboard.
Your Team Here
Team Card · School colors
Your Team Here
Team Card · School colors
Your Team Here
Team Card · School colors
Your Team Here
Team Card · School colors
Your Team Here
Team Card · School colors
Your Team Here
Team Card · School colors
Compete locally. Rank nationally.
National Intercollegiate Leaderboard
Who will take the top spot?
Ballathon results will feed a national leaderboard where the strongest teams and schools can see how they stack up against the competition.
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Upcoming Ballathons
Next Up
Austin, Texas
The first Ballathon is coming.
College athletes. Four-person teams. One real-world Challenge. One weekend to make the case.
Host
Learn from people who know how teams win.
DD
Host
Don Davis
Three-Time Super Bowl Champion
Former NFL Linebacker
- Focus
- Leadership / Team Performance
- Event
- Ballathon 001, 002
Pregame Team Talk
Know your position. Own your responsibility. Read what you're getting. Communicate. Adjust. Cover each other. Win together.
Leadership Development
You don't learn leadership by sitting through a leadership workshop.
You learn it when the clock is running, the plan isn't working and three other people are counting on you.
Ballathon puts players in positions where they have to lead, follow, communicate, prioritize, adapt and execute under pressure.
Every player leaves with more than a result. They leave knowing more about how they show up on a team.
Partners
Put college athletes to work on problems that matter.
Ballathon partners bring real challenges, expertise and resources into the competition.
Challenge Partner
Technology Partner
Prize Partner
Event Partner
National Partner
Whether you're looking to engage exceptional college athletes, tackle an important problem, identify talent or build a meaningful campus presence, Ballathon gives you something more valuable than sponsorship inventory:
A role in the competition.
Become a Ballathon PartnerTell Us. Defend It. Prove It.
One Challenge. Four players. One school. One Game Clock.
Think your team can win?
Want Ballathon on your campus? For Universities