In November of 2017, Jeremy Tackett (Union County Athletic Administrator) and Matt Bell (Webster County Athletic Administrator) had a conversation on their way to a regional athletic administrator’s meeting regarding a tournament for the mid size schools that was similar to the All A Classic format. Both thought it was worth pursuing and began the process.
Tackett researched the enrollment figures statewide and discovered that 66 schools were too large for the All A Classic and had an enrollment of less than 1,000 students. Of those 66 schools, 40 of them were in favor of creating a 2A Classic which would allow schools across the state to compete for a state championship.
Using technology, a statewide zoom call occurred in January of 2018 to discuss the plans and to organize a group of board members to represent all parts of the state. The 40 schools were split into 4 geographical sections from the current KHSAA alignment of regions 1-16 where regions 1-4 made up section 1, 5-8 section 2, 9-12 section 3 and 13-16 section 4. Each section would plan and schedule their own sectional tournament and send representatives to compete for a state championship for a 4-team tournament to be played at Henry County High School in mid-January.
The goal of the 2A wasn’t to compete with the All A but to mirror it as well as work as a partnership and avoid any conflicts amongst the two tournaments. Any team that was eligible for the All A Classic was automatically ineligible for the 2A. Stan Steidel, along with other All A Board Members, worked collectively to make it possible for both tournaments to be successful.
On January 31, 2018, the board officially met at Elizabethtown High School to discuss the plans to move forward. Chairman Jeremy Tackett, Vice Chairman Eddie Browning, Treasurer Matt Bell and Secretary Michael Melton served as the officers of the inaugural board of directors. Board members included Kent Akin, Jonathan Vincent, Brad Morgan, John Kasten, Chris Ullery, Travis Feltner and Stan Steidel. The original plan was to have a final 4 for girls’ and boys’ basketball at Henry County High School but the board quickly changed their decision to have 8 teams and play at a more convenient venue. This led to the decision to allow the winner and runner up of each section to advance to the state championship. The first basketball state championship was set for January 17-20, 2019, which was the weekend prior to the All A Classic state championship. It was also at this board meeting that the official name of the organization would be “The Kentucky 2A Championships” and that the logo would be selected from a contest in which students from 2A eligible schools would compete as well as offering and providing scholarships to students from the eligible 2A Schools.
The board would schedule another meeting in Corbin on February 21, 2018, to meet with Corbin city officials and Tourism Commission to discuss the possibilities of hosting the 2019 basketball championships. At this meeting, it was discussed and reviewed the proposal of Corbin as well as Owensboro to host the 2019 basketball championships. Corbin would host the tournament in the Corbin Arena and Owensboro would host the tournament in the Sportscenter. The tournament draw was also held to determine what sections would play who. The draw was set up like a KHSAA regional draw where a sectional champion would play a runner up champion in the first round ensuring that the two teams from the same section would be in opposite brackets. It was also discussed at this meeting to develop association bylaws and other necessities for the organization as well as potential sponsors, scholarship opportunities and the organization logo contest.
A special called board meeting took place on March 6, 2018, to discuss the proposals from Corbin and Owensboro as the host of the Kentucky 2A Championships state tournaments. After discussion, a vote was taken and the board voted 13-1 to be in favor of Owensboro, with the help of Visit Owensboro, serving as the host of the Kentucky 2A Championships.
The next board meeting was scheduled in March of 2018 where discussion of necessities for the organization were finalized as well as the review and reading of proposals for Owensboro and Corbin. It was at this time the board voted to accept the proposal from Owensboro where a press release would be sent to all media outlets. The logo contest winner was selected and the official logo of the Kentucky 2A Championships was born. Contracts were developed and sent to each participating school and plans of sectional tournament dates and times were discussed.
The next meeting took place April 26, 2018, at the annual KHSADA (now KAAA) state conference. Further discussion on sectional play took place along with 45 teams committed to participate. Owensboro committed to 3 years where basketball championships would be played in 2019 while baseball and softball would be added in 19-20 followed by the addition of volleyball and soccer in 20-21.
On October 16, 2018, the board met again to finalize teams and sectional tournaments for basketball and begin preparation for the inaugural 2A basketball tournament to be held in January. The board agreed to incorporate a cheer competition and a pep band competition amongst competing schools for the tournament as well as a tour of the Owensboro Sportscenter.
The first girls champion was Christian Academy of Louisville who defeated Scott High 49-40. The boys first champion was John Hardin who defeated Knox Central 83-60. As we moved into year 2, the CAL defended their title by defeating Mercer County 61-55 and John Hardin repeated as champion by winning 73-52 over Bourbon County. The plan was to add the baseball and softball, but COVID 19 had different plans. The baseball and softball tournament of 2020 was canceled as well as the fall championships for volleyball and soccer and the winter basketball championships. As time progressed, it was decided to return in the spring of 2021 with the inaugural baseball and softball championships where Paducah Tilghman won the first baseball championship over CAL 10-7 and Calloway County brought home the softball championship by knocking off Warren East 4-2. In the fall of 2021, Lexington Catholic claimed the inaugural title for volleyball over Floyd Central 3-0. The boys’ soccer title was won by Lexington Catholic over Thomas Nelson 7-0 and the girls’ soccer title was won by Lexington Catholic over Nelson County by a final of 4-0. Golf was also added to the Kentucky 2A Championships in 2021 where the girls’ team title was taken by Russell County and the boys’ title was claimed by CAL.