Well NKY is where this tourney started and it will always be important, its just right now there is not very much competition in the 9th... But the teams from NKY really do want to win it and try to make a run at the state tourney as did NCC last year...

 

But back to the topic anyways there are still alot of teams that lose in the all A and give teams all that they can handle in the regionals

Good luck to all the NKY teams in the state tourney. It would be great to see any of the NKY teams do well. I will be pulling for all NKY teams.

"A" schools Beechwood, Cov Holy Cross, St. Henry and Newport boys all played on the 18th also. Would it be fair to the boys "A" teams not to play that entire week just because their girls "might" be playing? BTW Villa Boys played Saturday the 19th, the day of the Championship game. So out of the eight schools in the girls "A" ninth region, only Ludlow and Bellevue didn't play on those two days and Bellevue was of course, the host school.

 

The All A is still a great tourney and remember, Cov Holy Cross and Cov Latin were two of the schools that help start this tournament years and years ago.

 

:confused:No I wouldn't expect the other program not to play all week but the brackets for the All A are available well in advance of the time in which they schedule games for the year. I would think that coaches/ADs would work to schedule around the All A as to not have a conflict with their other team. It really isn't that difficult I don't think.

I agree with you Cat Pride it could be hard to motivate the girls after, but many still have an opportunity to go to Regionals and work for next year. Let's face it something motivates these small schools to work hard they do it year after year.

 

I think you see this with the Seniors more. IMO

Do yo mean a lack of motivation in the seniors after the All "A"??

Being a fan of small school basketball, I love the All "A" Classic, but I have seen a lot of teams struggle after the All "A". If a team loses in the All "A" Regional, and doesn't have much of a chance of winning their District Tournament because of the talent level of the big schools, then how does a coach keep them playing hard and improving game after game? I have even heard some coach's say that after the All "A" they start building for next year. Any thoughts??

 

I personally love the small schools, am a fan of a small class A school myself. I don't see the idea of "packing it in" and start "rebulding", working on next season.

The all A tourneys and State all A classic are great but imo that is not "The Season".

A good coach will start preparing his team for the rest of the season and building momentum and confidence for the districts. I much prefer the "never give up, don't ever give up" attitude.

After all in Kentucky high school basketball the districts/regionals and the "Sweet Sixteen" are what it is all about. There have been some very small schools in the past go to the sweet16 and make good showings with some even winning a state title.

I once heard a coach in our area say that "we gear everything for the all A", while that tourney is great for the small schools but to me anyway that is telling your kids they have no chance. "After the all A we don't have prayer ":irked:.

Should a coach have that attitude I don't want him. JMO

Do yo mean a lack of motivation in the seniors after the All "A"??

 

 

Yes..it seems to really effect them the most.

I have seen teams that win the All 'A" have trouble getting motivated for about 2 weeks after going to Richmond. We always call them The Post Class A Blues.

Personally I sort of think the All A is starting to lose it's appeal especially at least in the 9th Region anyway. It has turned into which Parochial School (no disrespect intended) is going to represent the 9th Region and tends to cause some scheduling conflicts with the various schools programs. I just don't see the same enthusiasm to play in the All A as there once was but maybe I'm wrong. The parochials don't even seem all that interested in the tourney because when one of their teams is playing in the All A (boys or girls) the other team will still be playing on the same night. Example I saw where the NewCath girls played friday in the All A against Ludlow and yet their boys team was also playing somewhere. I would think scheduling like that could hurt attendance for the All A. Maybe the time of year of the All A is played needs to be changed. Maybe a start of the season tourney for all small schools and before schools get into their conference play might be an interesting concept. Just a thought.

 

It's not that way in the 8th. I think most boys teams support the girls and vice versa. The eighth region doesn't have any parochial schools involved, however. Both the boys and girls tournaments have been successful at the gate and really create excitement for the schools. The 8th winners always take some of the best crowds that Richmond see every year. The eighth has not been dominated by one or two schools; the region winners have been several different school and each year the boys and girls have a competitive tournament.

 

"Don't fix it if it ain't broke."

I would like to see the state tourney structured like the boys football. Take 8 teams from each class, A, AA, AAA etc., and have a state champion for each class. This would make the state tourney larger, get more student athlete's and parents involved, and generate more income. It would be a win win situation for everyone.In my opinion this would be the only way of even coming close to making the state tourney fair. The only problem I could forsee here is that you would still have the small private schools stacking their teams. I really think the all "A" is a great tourney for the small schools, but I agree with you on the time of the year needs to be looked at. If the end of the year tourney was structured this way, then their would be no need to have the all "A" in the middle of the season. This would make it alot easier on the coaches of small schools to build momentum towards the end of the season tourney.

 

Tell me you are kidding. 16 teams is perfect.

The way I see it, if a school doesn’t like the All A and they truly believe it hurts them down the road if they lose or win in it, then why participate. I don’t see teams losing motivation after participating in such tournaments as the one Lexington Catholic puts on each year as well as the King of the Bluegrass or the LIT. All three of those tournaments are a lot stronger than the All A but I don’t see any of those schools complaining. This is for the small schools and this is the best thing that could happen for a small school. I really haven’t seen a Class A school in football turn their trophies back in. For a lot of us (small schools) this is a big deal and for those of you who don’t like it … then stay out of it. :mad: Don’t try to go mess up a good thing! How can a team really get motivated after the Class A when they know they have to face the likes of some 6A, 5A or 4A schools in their district?

The way I see it, if a school doesn’t like the All A and they truly believe it hurts them down the road if they lose or win in it, then why participate. I don’t see teams losing motivation after participating in such tournaments as the one Lexington Catholic puts on each year as well as the King of the Bluegrass or the LIT. All three of those tournaments are a lot stronger than the All A but I don’t see any of those schools complaining. This is for the small schools and this is the best thing that could happen for a small school. I really haven’t seen a Class A school in football turn their trophies back in. For a lot of us (small schools) this is a big deal and for those of you who don’t like it … then stay out of it. :mad: Don’t try to go mess up a good thing! How can a team really get motivated after the Class A when they know they have to face the likes of some 6A, 5A or 4A schools in their district?

 

Well said!

For some schools losing in the All A could also serve as a motivator. They say "Well guys we didn't win this one, but we can still have time to prepare for the district and region." I mean if they don't care about playing in the All A anyway, then their main concern is probably only winning these "more meaningful" tournaments... right?

I just don't understand why Class A schools don't enjoy and appreciate this tournament more than they apparently do. I mean really, how many class A schools do we see make it to the big dance? We feel lucky to just get 1 out of the 16!

It's not that way in the 8th. I think most boys teams support the girls and vice versa. The eighth region doesn't have any parochial schools involved, however. Both the boys and girls tournaments have been successful at the gate and really create excitement for the schools. The 8th winners always take some of the best crowds that Richmond see every year. The eighth has not been dominated by one or two schools; the region winners have been several different school and each year the boys and girls have a competitive tournament.

 

"Don't fix it if it ain't broke."

 

The All A in the 8th Region is a completely different animal then the 9th in my opinion. The parochial schools make a huge difference and have dominated for so long that IMO the All A in the 9th is starting to lose it's appeal to some .

I think in the 8th the All A is still done the way it was originally intended and

there alot of rivalries that make it a much more appealing tournament. Schools like Holy Cross, St Henry and NCC tend to consider larger schools their rivals and not the smaller public class A schools.

I still think the A is a great tourney but I do think a few changes might be in order. I know few would agree but I still like the idea of maybe playing it at the 1st of the year.

I talk to coaches from the 8th, 9th, and 10th and the All A is a big deal to them and their respective schools. The question that comes to my mind is why and how are the Parochial so much stronger than the Public A schools in the 9th?