4 hours ago, The Professor said:

No, they are independent of the KHSAA. Some schools simply choose not to participate in it. You would never see that in the Feb-Mar KHSAA districts and regions. 
I suppose the best way to look at it is that it’s a statewide invitational tournament. The winning trophy says “All A State Championship”. So, since all 120 counties are eligible to participate if they meet the requirements it is a statewide tournament. 
 

A few schools have won both the All A State and the KHSAA state in the same year. Hazard’s girls did it about 20 years ago. I think Shelby Valley boys did it too. 

Thanks Professor for the clarification. So, do you know who started these tournaments? Are they sponsored by an organization? Who runs them? 
I always assumed they started because we don’t have classes at the Sweet 16 and it was a way for smaller schools to bring home the gold. Maybe I’m wrong. Regardless, I like the tournaments. 

26 minutes ago, blue-five-two said:

Thanks Professor for the clarification. So, do you know who started these tournaments? Are they sponsored by an organization? Who runs them? 
I always assumed they started because we don’t have classes at the Sweet 16 and it was a way for smaller schools to bring home the gold. Maybe I’m wrong. Regardless, I like the tournaments. 

The All A Classic began as a Christmas tournament for small schools in northern Kentucky along with a handful of teams from the rest of the state during the early 1980s. It became a statewide event divided into sixteen regions during the 1989-90 season with all sixteen boys winners advancing to a state event. The statewide girls tournament began in the 1990-91 season with sectional tournaments held to narrow it down to four winners playing in a state event; it changed to eight girls teams in 1991-92 before becoming a sixteen team state event in the 1992-93 season.

5 hours ago, REALSPORT said:

The All A takes the lowest 125 (? something like that) schools based on enrollment.  So you will see some schools come and go year by year.  Lloyd Memorial is out this year for example.  I would think the 2A does something similar

If I'm not mistaken, I believe they have recently moved to a two-year cycle for All A schools. I'm sure this had something to do with a team being eligible one season and too big the next year, making the second year of scheduling really difficult.

The 2A event was started by Union County and Webster County in western Kentucky, along with a few other schools. While the spirit of the event is good, they've been faced with some problems:

1. Covid hit during the first year of the event.
2. Many schools that are eligible by size have chosen not to participate. That's why the section champions tend to combine schools from multiple regions.
3. Many schools that fall into the 2A range are actually very competitive across classes and hold realistic aspirations of participating in the Sweet 16 in March. This varies from the All A, which has a few teams capable of making it to Rupp Arena, but is predominantly schools that would cite a district championship and/or regional tournament appearance at the pinnacle of their success.