The NBA has been on thee leading edge when it comes to the evolving world of analytics in sports.

Arenas like the Air Canada Centre have become equipped with precise on-court player-tracking technologies as front offices have numerical analysis, while teams like the Sacramento Kings have embraced crowdsourcing, soliciting data-driven reports and feedback from the league’s growing legion of stat-heads.

The NBA is taking things one step further with its first annual Hackathon, which gives university students a chance to put their minds to the test in front of the NBA community during a one-day competition on September 24th in New York City.

As their website explains:

“Teams accepted to the Hackathon will build basketball analytics tools and develop solutions to challenging and important problems in the field of basketball analytics, and present their work to a panel of expert judges and an audience of NBA League Office and team personnel, media, invited guests and the other competitors.”

The best part? Eligibility has now been extended to students at accredited universities across Canada (excluding Quebec).

Among other prizes, the winning team will get the opportunity to sit down to meet and mingle with notable NBA front office members, obviously a valuable opportunity for anyone looking to enter the field.

“We think that by bringing together some of the most talented young minds for a full day to build tools and develop solutions in the field of basketball analytics,” said Jason Rosenfield, the NBA’s director of basketball analytics, “we can continue to innovate, which is something that the NBA has embraced for a very long time.”

Click here to find out more and apply to enter the NBA’s first annual Hackathon competition.