This division is for climbers in grades 6th-8th. Climbers are encouraged to form teams through their school. Current team practices are schedule for:

• St. Elizabeth: Mondays, 4:30-6pm
• McAuliffe: Tuesdays, 5:30-7pm

Competitions will be held on Sunday afternoon, during the 2nd or 3rd week of each month from Nov. 2024 – May 2025. Climbers will be scored on their top 2 routes & boulders + 3rd top score from either category; 5 climbs total.

Competitions will be held on Friday evening, during the 2nd or 3rd week of each month from Nov. 2024 – May 2025. Climbers will be scored on their top 2 routes & boulders + 3rd top score from either category; 5 climbs total.

Climbers are encouraged to form their own teams of 3-6 high school climbers. For individuals who do not have a team; our league organizer can help find one and get you in contact with your teammates. Individual participation is also allowed.

**Limit 1 USAC Youth Competitor per team**

2024-25 Season Competition:

Comp #1:

• High School: Friday, November 8th – 6-8pm
• Primary School: Saturday, November 9th – 4:30-7pm
• Middle School: Sunday, November 10th – 4:30-7pm

Comp #2:

• High School: Friday, December 13th – 6-8pm
• Primary School: Saturday, December 14th – 4:30-7pm
• Middle School: Sunday, December 15th – 4:30-7pm

Comp #3:

• High School: Friday, January 24th – 6-8pm
• Primary School: Saturday, January 25th – 4:30-7pm
• Middle School: Sunday, January 26th – 4:30-7pm

Comp #4:

• High School: Friday, February 21st – 6-8pm
• Primary School: Saturday, February 22nd – 4:30-7pm
• Middle School: Sunday, February 23rd – 4:30-7pm

Comp #5:

• High School: Friday, March 14th – 6-8pm
• Primary School: Saturday, March 15th – 4:30-7pm
• Middle School: Sunday, March 16th – 4:30-7pm

Comp #6:

• High School: Friday, April 11th – 6-8pm
• Primary School: Saturday, April 12th – 4:30-7pm
• Middle School: Sunday, April 13th – 4:30-7pm

Routes will be left up for the following day (Saturday or Sunday) if a competitor can’t make the scheduled competition.

Competition Schedule:

Check-in: opens 45min before the start of each competition.

Competitor’s meeting: 15min before the start of each competition

Competition begins:

High School: 6pm

Primary School: 4:30pm

Middle School: 4:30pm

Competition ends:

High School: 8pm

Primary School: 7pm

Middle School: 7pm

League Championship:

High School: Friday, May 16th – 6-8pm

Primary School: Saturday, May 17th – 4:30-7pm

Middle School: Sunday, May 18th – 4:30-7pm

Check-in: opens 45min before the start of each competition.

Competitor’s meeting: 15min before the start of each competition

Competition begins:

High School: 6pm

Primary School: 4:30pm

Middle School: 4:30pm

Competition ends:

High School: 8pm

Primary School: 7pm

Middle School: 7pm

• This is a recreational league that has monthly competitions and a final season championship. The 3 divisions are broken up to help create a little friendly competition. Parents and coaches can refer to these scores as they wish, but the goals of these competitions is to give the young climbers goals in a comp setting to help them compete without a ton of pressure. This is suppose to be fun and encouraging for them.

2. Who can join the Youth Climbing League?

• This is open to ANY student in K-12 that wants to compete recreationally in climbing. Climbers can form teams to practice and compete, but teams are not a requirement.

3. I don’t have any competitive climbing experience, does this matter?

• NOPE. This is a fun, recreational league. This is a great way to get young climbers introduced to competition climbing. But the competitions are meant to be FUN and accessible to all students. JUST SHOW UP AND TRY YOUR HARDEST! You never know what you may be able to achieve!

4. Who can coach?

• Any teacher, parent, or adult can coach. To form a team, we need a coach willing to volunteer and for them to allocate practice times. For coaches that volunteer, you must complete our Climbing Wall Instructor (CWI) training. This provides a Climbing Wall Association certification. ÜG will cover the cost of the course and certification for volunteer coaches. Volunteer coaches with at least 6 youth competitors on their team that train at ÜG once a week will also receive a FREE membership for themselves during the Youth Climbing League season. If you are interested in coaching a Team, please contact youth@ugclimbing.com.
  

5. Which teams are already formed?

• Middle School Division
  • St Elizabeth: select Monday afternoons – 4:30-6pm
    • Coach: Quinn Pack
  • McAuliffe: Tuesday evenings – 5:30-7pm
    • Coaches: Parker Schiffer, Brandon Gilbert, and Brad Dawgert

6. Why is the pricing complicated?

• This one is tough. We want to make participation flexible based on each individual’s commitment. You can compete in ALL or a FEW of the competitions (minimum of 3 regular season comps required to compete in the season championship). You may want to practice several times a week, once a week, every other week. This is why we offer different options for membership and punch passes as part of the league registration. The gist is, there is a fee for the competitions (either season pass or a la carte) and there is an entry fee that must be paid for each time you come to practice (single day pass, punch passes, or membership). You can also chose to include gear rental on any of the league punch passes or membership. All of these entry fee options have been discounted for kids that are registered for the Youth Climbing League.

Climbing is Dangerous.
All participants are required to complete and agree to the Visitor Agreement (www.ugclimbing.com/release) prior to entry into the facility and/or participation in any activities. For minors under 18 years of age, the waiver must be completed by their PARENT OR COURT APPOINTED LEGAL GUARDIAN only (sorry, no grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, pet dogs, goldfish, etc. are authorized to sign a legal release for a child that is not legally their own). Participants that are not willing to sign the Visitor Agreement will be prohibited from entry into the facility and will not be issued a refund.

Required Paperwork.
All climbers AND coaches must have the following documents on file (as applicable):

Youth Climbing League Registration Fees Paid are final.
No refunds (full or partial) are provided after October 4th, 2024.  Registration fee can be refunded with a $35 cancellation fee PRIOR TO October 4th, 2024.

Prepaid Membership Sales are final.
No refunds (full or partial) are provided. Prior to the first check-in, Prepaid Membership may be transferred to another eligible person (must meet enrollment requirements for discounted, child, and family rates as applicable). Once membership has been used (after first check-in) membership MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED. Prepaid memberships purchased with Youth Climbing League registration are valid from October 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025. Prepaid membership may not be frozen or extended beyond the term of the membership period.

Punch pass sales are final.
No refunds (full or partial) are provided. Punches may be transferred to another individual. Any punch passes purchased with Youth Climbing League registration are valid 2 years from date of purchase.

Youth Climbing League Code of Conduct:
All Youth Climbing League athletes and coaches must abide by all Übergrippen rules, policies, and staff direction. Athletes and coaches will demonstrate our values of respect, inclusivity, positivity, and encouragement always. All athletes and coaches will always use best practices for safe climbing including DETAILED BUDDY CHECKS before each climb, proper belay technique with constant control of the brake strand of the rope, auto-belay safety checks, and best practices when bouldering. Horseplay, unsafe practices, or rude/disrespectful behavior are prohibited. Failure to follow this standard will result in athletes being removed from that day’s practice or competition; repeated offenses will result in more severe disciplinary action including temporary or permanent suspension with no refunds.