All A classic

[coachforlife]

I will use Louisville Collegiate as an example. The excitement I saw Saturday night when they won the All A Seventh Region was off the charts. They won their game yesterday. Those are substantial achievements for Collegiate, a school with an enrollment of 229.

 

Even though Collegiate is having its best year ever, it will be extremely difficult for Collegiate to get to the Seventh Region tournament. Collegiate is in the same district with Male (enrollment of 1958) and St. Xavier (enrollment of 1341, all males). While Collegiate fans can tell you about beating St. X in the district tournament in 2011, it will be an extremely rare occurrence for Collegiate to make it to the Seventh Region tournament. AND if they make it to the Seventh Region tournament, some combination of schools like Eastern (enrollment of 2080), Manual (enrollment of 1918), Ballard (enrollment of 1882), and Trinity (enrollment of 1205, all males) will be waiting for them.

 

So, yes, playing in the All A is worth it.

 

This about covers it.....good post!

[Voice of Reason]

There have been some good posts in this thread which explain the importance of the All A to small schools, but I will play along here and add this thought.

 

Most important goals for a 1A basketball team each season:

 

1. Win the All A Classic.

 

2. Win the Sweet 16 State Championship.

 

No, I am not saying I would rather win the All A than the Sweet 16. What I am saying is when I set up my team's schedule and prioritize what is most important, I focus on winning the All A over the Sweet 16 because the All A is a much more realistic goal for almost every 1A school in the state. Those goals might be flipped at a couple of 1A schools in the state but 99% of 1A schools likely prioritize winning the All A.

 

Yes, it is worth it.

[4 Quarters]

I understand that all the small schools play it in! What does a team get out of beating a team by 25+?

The last time I checked, this happens all during the regular season also. Should we cancel all regular season games ?

[Uk66]

Having gone to a 5A school in the 80’s I never knew the All A Classic existed. Our goal was to go the Sweet 16. I recall Carlisle Co taking Henry Clay to triple overtime in the sweet sixteen final in ‘83 with fewer than 100 boys in their high school. But, having a son attending a single A school I now get it. The All A Tourney is really the only realistic goal for most small schools especially w/ bigger schools drawing transfers from other schools or states. The talent pools are too great to overcome unless you get a transcendent player. The 9th region final was incredible theater and Beechwood did not show up well against Knott Co.

[sweet16]

Having gone to a 5A school in the 80’s I never knew the All A Classic existed. Our goal was to go the Sweet 16. I recall Carlisle Co taking Henry Clay to triple overtime in the sweet sixteen final in ‘83 with fewer than 100 boys in their high school. But, having a son attending a single A school I now get it. The All A Tourney is really the only realistic goal for most small schools especially w/ bigger schools drawing transfers from other schools or states. The talent pools are too great to overcome unless you get a transcendent player. The 9th region final was incredible theater and Beechwood did not show up well against Knott Co.

 

Well said.

[Voice of Reason]

If you like high school basketball, the All A Classic is the best bargain out there. For $10 you could see the four quarterfinal games tonight. Yesterday for $20 you could see the whole first round. Also all tickets are general admission so you sit wherever you want.

Edited January 27, 2018 by EyeOfTheTiger

[KentuckyHShoops]

I will use Louisville Collegiate as an example. The excitement I saw Saturday night when they won the All A Seventh Region was off the charts. They won their game yesterday. Those are substantial achievements for Collegiate, a school with an enrollment of 229.

 

Even though Collegiate is having its best year ever, it will be extremely difficult for Collegiate to get to the Seventh Region tournament. Collegiate is in the same district with Male (enrollment of 1958) and St. Xavier (enrollment of 1341, all males). While Collegiate fans can tell you about beating St. X in the district tournament in 2011, it will be an extremely rare occurrence for Collegiate to make it to the Seventh Region tournament. AND if they make it to the Seventh Region tournament, some combination of schools like Eastern (enrollment of 2080), Manual (enrollment of 1918), Ballard (enrollment of 1882), and Trinity (enrollment of 1205, all males) will be waiting for them.

 

So, yes, playing in the All A is worth it.

 

This is about as accurate as it gets. I have not Louisville Collegiate play in any of their All A games but saw some of their coach’s posts on Twitter and it looks like those kids are having the time of their lives. I have not been to any All A State games but from twitter it looks like this is a HUGE deal for all these schools. Not just the players but the students who get to come support their teams in such a big environment—seems like an amazing deal for all involved. Nothing wrong with kids having an incredible experience, and with the district Collegiate is in (and the enrollments), this looks like it could be as good as it gets! Great for them and their school/players/coaches. Seems like something’s really happening over there on Grinstead Drive.

[jlow]

Food for thought...Over the past 25+ years the All A has awarded over $2,000,000 in scholarship money to small school students in the commonwealth. I would estimate that gate receipts would easily exceed $200,000 for the event. It definitely felt like a state tournament