The “Secret Tournament” (aka 2A Championship)
Bear with me here and understand that what I am trying to say comes from a place of love. Because what I have to say here is designed to express the frustrations of trying to do my absolute best in…
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Continue ReadingBear with me here and understand that what I am trying to say comes from a place of love. Because what I have to say here is designed to express the frustrations of trying to do my absolute best in covering Kentucky High School Girls Basketball. Trying to see as many teams and players as I possibly can throughout the course of the season.
I tell a story about how many teams I have seen play this year (around 1/2 of the teams in the State) and how I do what I can to be sure that I have seen a team play even if they have no players currently Ranked on our site. I go anyway because I don’t believe in ruling you out just because nobody has seen you play. I go out of my way to find the player nobody else has seen.
As the story goes, I talk about a player I have covered that is the best player on her team. She scores a ton of points but she is never going to play basketball in college for various reasons I won’t get into. I like to say she is a “footnote” in the grand scheme of Girl’s High School Basketball in the Commonwealth. But to me she deserves coverage. She deserves her footnote.
It is along those lines that I now tell this story.
There are several players through the state that will never play in the next level. And others that just need a little bit of exposure to be discovered by a Coach who maybe sees something more in them than I do. After all, it only takes ONE school to offer a player for her to matriculate their talents to the next level.
I have taken to calling the 2A State Tournament the “Secret Tournament” because it was practically impossible to find out “When” and “Where” any of the tournament games would be played. I was able to determine “Who” the teams were that would be involved. I was able to determine that the State Tournament was to be played in Owensboro, but I was unable to discover when.
I used every search tool and site readily available to me including the Official Site of the 2A Tournament. I wrote an email to the only address affiliated with that website cajoling them about how I would like to cover their tournament. No reply.
I got a Press Pass to the All “A” Classic and had my own spot on the floor 10 feet from Mid-court. I got into the LIT with a Press Pass (which is nearly impossible to get) and I’m already on “The List” for every postseason tournament in the 6th and 7th Regions. I will probably be on Press Row during the State Tournament. But I LITERALLY couldn’t get the time of day, or the location, or even the day itself of the 2A’s.
I searched the KHSAA/Riherds Scoreboard and about half of the Sectional games did not denote that they were Sectional games involved in the tournament at all. Another half of the games suggested only that the games would be played at “Multiple Locations” (which defies physics).
Only ONE Sectional bothered to list an actual Location (among “Multiple Locations”) that each game would be played. And so, on that specific day, at that specific time and specific location, I traveled to Section 3 to witness two games between the four teams in that tournament. It was just that easy for those four teams to receive coverage while the other 7 Sectionals had none.
By the way, a few of the All “A” Tournaments were listed as “Multiple Locations” also. This is very likely why I was covering other All “A” Regionals and not the one your school was playing in during the two weeks leading up to that tournament.
List an actual location where your games will take place next year and I might just cover it. I made it to 7 of the 16 Regions this year, the weather kept me from an eighth and I had already seen everyone play in a ninth. I could have easily been to at least three more 2A Sectionals if only a location were posted.
It may seem to be only a minor detail, but it is a detail that could make all the difference in the future of some student-athletes on the margins. It could also help to increase the options of players that will definitely be offered college scholarships. And for those players that will just be another “footnote” in the annals of Girls Basketball… at least they will get their footnote.