Schools delay vote on proposal to hold 13th Region Tournament at Corbin Arena

Although a vote was expected Tuesday on the possibility of moving the 13th Region Basketball Tournament to the newly constructed Arena in Corbin, the only thing those in attendance could agree on was to call another meeting to discuss the matter more thoroughly.

Cliff Clinger, General manager of The Arena in Corbin, was on hand to share his proposal with representatives from schools in the 13th Region and detailed how profits could possibly be distributed among schools in the region, but stressed the fact that everything involved was open for discussion.

"I want to thank all of you for the time today and the past couple of weeks that you have given me to speak to you about this," Clinger said. "If I didn’t get a chance to speak to you directly, we have left information there for you to look at in consideration of this.

"Every since we started this project, I hit the ground running on this," he added. "I want everyone to know that we are in no way trying to replace the policy board or the host school and whatever the decision, there are a lot of things that are yet to be worked out on the matter. We are more than willing to work with you and make this thing possibly work for everyone in an effort to grow this tournament and make it better for everyone."

Clinger talked about how the 15th Region has had success in the efforts that moved that region’s tournament to the Expo Center in Pikeville and the possibility of getting a one-year commitment to see how things work out and whether those involved would want to pursue the matter.

While there were several schools seemingly for the move, such as small schools like OBI and Lynn Camp, there was strong opposition from a pair of larger schools in the region. 

"The bottom line on this is, I have nothing against The Arena, it’s a great facility and so on, but I don’t think we should have a vote here to pass a policy that says what my school is entitled to," said Bob Howard, Harlan County High School Principal. "If OBI or Redbird or one of the schools that don’t have the facilities to host the region tournament, I have no problem with that. But don’t pass a resolution that will take that tournament away from the larger schools that can handle the tournament. That’s not fair."

Clay County High School Principal, Mike Wyatt, also opposed the option and seemed to have some doubt as to whether the numbers presented in Clinger’s proposal were realistic.

"He is basically saying I have a facility and that’s it," Wyatt said. "He is promising a nice amount of money and that money may or may not appear, but I would say this, he doesn’t have the only facility in the 13th Region that can host a basketball tournament.

"Harlan County has about a $10 million facility that is very adequate," he added. "If I hosted the tournament at Clay County High School and sold tickets for $8, I could promise you that kind of money or more and if anyone wants to jot that down in the form of a motion, go right ahead." 

In the end, the group agreed to hold what it called a working meeting on Nov. 30 to discuss the specifics and any other proposals that may come about. Following that meeting, another meeting will be called by the Christmas holiday to either approve such a move or put it to rest for good.