BYJU’S Unveils the BYJU’S Coding Cup, Enabling Kids to Use Code and AI to Field Virtual Soccer Teams in Unison with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 20, 2022) – BYJU'S, the world's largest education technology company and an Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, today announced the launch of the BYJU’S Coding Cup, a global coding competition that enables kids to personalize and program the moves of soccer players on a virtual “mini-team” and compete against other teams around the globe. The BYJU’S Coding Cup is the first kids coding skills competition of its kind and taps into the global passion for the sport of soccer (also known as football) with over five billion fans estimated to tune in to this year’s FIFA World Cup 2022™.

“Soccer is a huge part of life for many families around the world and we are thrilled to launch the BYJU’S Coding Cup, a soccer-themed learning experience for students around the world, tied to this year’s FIFA World Cup,” said BYJU'S co-founder Divya Gokulnath. “The convergence of sports and learning has always been an integral part of our mission to build a global community of active learners and we look forward to seeing the individualized uniforms, teams and plays that kids create through the wonder of code – and which teams ultimately make it to the top of the Coding Cup’s global leaderboard.”

BYJU’S Coding Cup Sign-Ups are Open Now

As an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, BYJU’S is tapping into one of the world’s most popular sports to reach kids around the world and showcase that coding is an accessible, collaborative, and fun way to get in on the game ahead of November’s World Cup kick-off.

The BYJU’S Coding Cup was developed by Tynker, a BYJU’S company and one of the world’s leading K-12 creative coding platforms that empowers kids to be creators. Leveraging rich visuals and easy block-based coding challenges, the BYJU’S Coding Cup is accessible to kids aged 7-18, regardless of their skill level or experience with coding. Kids can customize their soccer player avatars, style their team’s jerseys and cleats, train their players by learning and using conditional logic commands, and then, using artificial intelligence (AI), compete on the virtual field to determine whose code has the winning strategy to rise in a globally-ranked leaderboard.

The BYJU’S Coding Cup season is now officially underway and kids can sign up for free to begin outfitting players, building and training their roster, and coding their own unique team playbooks. Each child will train a mini-team of three players – a striker, a defender, and goalkeeper – by learning basic coding skills from a programmed, virtual coach. Kids can also customize the appearance of their teams by selecting from a diverse range of characteristics, ranging from hair and eye color to skin tone and gender, a reflection of Tynker’s ongoing commitment to self-expression, diversity, and inclusion throughout its coding curriculum.

After training a team and learning the basics of coding, kids can test their skills in practice games against themselves before moving on to a match with other teams participating in the BYJU’S Coding Cup. To sharpen their individual strategy, participants can rewatch their own matches, or those played by another team, to foster a virtual community where kids learn from one another. For every winning match, teams will be ranked in a global leaderboard that is updated in real time.

Participation in the BYJU’S Coding Cup is free for anyone and the BYJU’S Coding Cup season will conclude on December 21st, when the competition winners will be announced. BYJU’S will award over 100 prizes to the top-ranked players including branded sports merchandise, exclusive certificates and cash prizes. For more information, and to see the Official Rules for the BYJU’S Coding Cup, please visit here.

About BYJU’S

BYJU’S, the world’s largest education technology company, provides engaging and personalized learning programs to more than 150 million students around the world. Founded and headquartered in India, BYJU'S mission is to make high-quality and innovative education available to all students. The BYJU’S family of brands cater to a wide range of learners of all ages and includes BYJU’S FutureSchool, Epic, Osmo, Tynker and the BYJU’S Learning App featuring Disney. With users in more than 100 countries and learning programs offered in multiple languages, BYJU’S is at the forefront of creating tech-driven and immersive learning experiences for students around the world. For more information, visit www.byjus.com/global.

About Tynker From BYJU’S

Tynker is one of the world’s leading K-12 creative coding platforms, enabling students of all ages to develop the coding skills to design and power animations, games, music, robots and drones, smart devices, virtual worlds like Minecraft, and more. The company’s award-winning platform helps kids engage at home, school, and on the go, while developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and programming skills to help them be successful today and tomorrow. Tynker’s highly successful coding curriculum has been used by one in three U.S. K-8 schools, 100,000 schools globally, and over 60 million kids across 150 countries. Tynker’s partners include some of the world’s most respected brands, including Apple, BBC Learning, Google, Microsoft, Mattel, PBS, Lego, NASA, and more. Tynker is accessible from any computer with an Internet browser, as well as via the Tynker and Tynker Junior mobile apps, and offers both free and paid subscription options. For more information, visit https://www.tynker.com.

BYJU’S Media Contact

JP Schuerman
jp.schuerman@byjus.com