[LOOKAYANNER]

The All A enrollment requirement grades 9-12, states that the school have to be one of 125 smallest schools in the state in order to participate in the tournament.
When the All A first started in the 1990s there were a lot more smaller schools scattered throughout the state, especially in eastern Kentucky. But in the last 25 years many counties have consolidated their smaller schools into Central high schools. No longer do we have schools such as Dilce Combs, Fleming-Neon, Letcher High, Cumberland, Evarts, Allen Central, South Floyd, Millard, John’s Creek, Feds Creek, Elkhorn City, Mullins, etc. And the ones I have listed are only a sample from a few mountain counties, but this has happened across the entire state.
In the early years of the All A if a school was much bigger than 400 students the school couldn’t qualify. But because there are not as many schools today as there were in the 1990s that has enabled the cutoff number to climb into the 650+ range to qualify for the All A. Couple that with the fact that mountain counties in particular have lost thousands of people due to the decline of coal business and it explains how schools such as Breathitt, Shelby Valley and Knott Central are in the All A. Breathitt and Knott, for instance, had enrollments up through the 1990’s of around 1100 -1200 but have since fallen to the mid 600’s. And that is how those schools, as well as Jackson County, Rockcastle and others, are now eligible for the All A tournament.