Next week’s All ‘A’ tournaments present us with a golden opportunity as a community

Next week, the All “A” Classic state championship basketball tournaments will be held in Corbin for the very first time. For those who are not familiar with the event, trust me when I say that it is very, very difficult to overstate what an amazing opportunity this is for literally every business in our local area.

I talked a little bit about this in a column that I wrote last spring, when it was first announced that the All “A” would be coming to the Corbin Arena, but now that we know which teams are going to be involved it is much easier to truly understand the scope of what is about to happen.

This event is typically held in Alumni Coliseum, which is on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. If you’ve ever been there, then you know that parking lot is pretty massive. Still, basketball fans manage to pack it full each year during the All “A” tournaments. For those schools who are lucky enough to participate, this really is a very big deal.

So, it is safe to say that the Corbin Arena will see plenty of folks coming and going between January 24-28, which is when the All “A” games are scheduled to take place. On January 24, ALL first round games in the girls’ tournament will be contested. That will include teams (and fans) from the following schools:

Region 1 – Mayfield

Region 2 – Crittenden County

Region 3 – Owensboro Catholic

Region 4 – Cumberland County

Region 5 – Bethlehem

Region 6 – Shawnee

Region 7 – Whitefield Academy

Region 8 – Walton-Verona

Region 9 – Covington Holy Cross

Region 10 – Nicholas County

Region 11 – Lexington Christian

Region 12 – Danville Christian

Region 13 – Harlan

Region 14 – Owsley County

Region 15 – Pikeville

Region 16 – Menifee County

The following day, ALL first round games in the boys’ tournament will be contested. That will include teams (and fans) from:

Region 1 – Murray

Region 2 – Lyon County

Region 3 – Owensboro Catholic

Region 4 – Clinton County

Region 5 – Caverna

Region 6 – Evangel Christian

Region 7 – Kentucky Country Day

Region 8 – Walton-Verona

Region 9 – Newport

Region 10 – Augusta

Region 11 – Sayre

Region 12 – Danville Christian

Region 13 – *YOUR* Williamsburg Yellow Jackets

Region 14 – Breathitt County

Region 15 – Pikeville OR Prestonsburg OR Martin County OR Betsy Layne

Region 16 – Raceland

Now, think about this… All of those people will be coming into town over the course of those two days. Many will be staying here for at least 2-3 days, some more. While they are here, here is a list of things that they will need to do, or may need to do:

• Book a hotel/motel room

• Order food from a local restaurant

• Be entertained while basketball games aren’t going on

• Attend a worship service

• Gas up a vehicle

• Get repairs made to a vehicle

• Read the local paper

• Seek medical attention

• Buy groceries, or other supplies

• Wash some clothes

In addition to these things, visitors will likely be looking for good reasons to return here sometime when they are able. It would be good to inform those folks about the many unique opportunities here, such as the long list of options for outdoor recreation found at nearby locations such as Laurel Lake, Cumberland Falls, Sheltowee Trace and others.

Also, many of the players who will be participating in these tournaments are already beginning to think about where they will be attending college in the near future. Perhaps this would be a golden opportunity for nearby schools such as Union, Somerset Community College, EKU Corbin, LMU Nursing and the University of the Cumberlands to make a good impression.

So, how do we all band together, as a community, and make sure that all of these visitors will leave Whitley County with a positive opinion and a desire to return after next week? Well, I guess that depends on each individual business, but we here at the News Journal would sure love to help you get the word out about what you’ve got going on.

Keep in mind that our paper will be distributed on Jan. 24, just as many people are rolling into town for the start of the All “A” tournaments. We leave copies at several locations near the Corbin Arena, including Speedway, Circle K, Dollar General, Sav-A-Lot, Marathon and Kroger.

If you would like to get more info on how to place a special advertisement in order to capitalize on this potentially once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, then please feel free to reach out to either myself or Ad Manager Melissa Hudson by calling the office here at (606) 528-9767. Our e-mail addresses are tsherman@corbinnewsjournal.com and mhudson@corbinnewsjournal.com, respectively.

Regardless of how you choose to approach the All “A” Classic next week, I certainly want to wish everyone the best of luck. It should be an exciting time for the teams, the towns, the fans, and the Corbin Arena, which I sincerely hope will get to host these tournaments again in the future.