The Clinton County Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will be hosting the 16th District Tournament next week and most of what fans see are the basketball games themselves.

What fans don’t see is everything else done weeks and even months ahead of time in order for the tournament to run smoothly.

Clinton County High School Athletic Director Mike Beard said there are a ton of things that have to be done prior to the first tip off during district week.

“You have to have a whole lot of help from a whole lot of people,” Beard said. “It takes a village. First of all, you have to have an administration who supports you and what you are doing. Dr. (Paula) Little, Mr. (Kenneth) Dearborn, and Mrs. Lori Dalton … they try to give you anything you need to get it done. We couldn’t do anything without Jessica Irwin here. I couldn’t do my job without her because I aggravate her all the time with stuff. With having to get purchase orders numbers from her, to write checks to pay the people we have to pay like referees. She, of course she lines up stuff with the concessions.”

Beard went on to say that in running a tournament of this magnitude, help is needed from other coaches around the district.

“Coach (Todd) Messer went to the middle school and ran the scoreboard during the freshmen district tournament last weekend,” Beard said. “It takes all the coaches pitching in and helping. We couldn’t put on any games out here without our game workers. Kim Craig, Randy Tallent, Haleigh Irwin have been here all year for us. It’s so awesome to just tell them what time and know they are going to be here. That helps to take a big burden off.”

There are also several people who volunteer at nearly every game, including Al Gibson who does the Public Address, Michael Whittenburg and Jamie Miller who run the scoreboard and game clock, Sheldon Harlan and Darrell Thompson keep the girls’ and boys’ official books.

“They show up every time we play,” Beard said. “We really can’t do it without Jason Pitman and his custodial crew. They have to clean up every night and make sure everything is ready to go again the next day. Those guys are great at taking care of whatever you need.”

In addition to the nightly Presenting of the Colors ceremony prior to the first game, Beard said the Junior ROTC has offered to help with parking during the district tournament. Beard said he has had them scheduled since December.

“They are going to direct traffic and help park and do the color guard as well,” Beard said. “There is a lot of moving pieces. The bands usually play at the games and you have to know who is going to play the National Anthem and we usually work that out with the other district schools.”

For several weeks the Clinton County Cheerleaders have been working hard on putting a tournament program together and all that work takes place well before district week even begins.

“Thank goodness they do that,” Beard said. “Mr. Walker and his media crew work hard to put all the games on the big screen. Sid and Lynn (Scott, and Starnes) take care of the broadcasting and all the radio people know each other so they really coordinate with them a lot. We have to have our School Resource Officers in place and we can’t play without Mark Thrasher, our team trainer. We couldn’t put it on without everyone helping like they do.”

From ordering awards and having district organizational meetings, so many things are required to get done before district week is even here.

“Like this year, we had a tie in the girls tournament, so we needed to have a draw and you have to get that information out as quick as you can to the media and to the public,” Beard said. “We provide passes for the teams and support staff. You have to make those and print those out. Mrs. Gina Poore and Mrs. Ammie Marcum has helped with those things. They have been making some signs also and we appreciate them for doing that.”

Next year, Monroe County will re-join the 16th District and with that comes a new rotation for holding events such as the district tournament.

“We have to submit a district plan and with Monroe coming in we have to submit a new district plan,” Beard said. “We also had to update our seeding plan, which it will be the same plan, but with five teams instead of four.”

Once district week is here, Beard said you have to make sure the gym is set up the way you need it ,as well as making sure the tickets are ready, along with the gate workers.

“You have to make sure the officials are assigned … they like to have their checks here and ready for game night and Jessica does a great job getting those ready,” Beard said.

During the first night of the District Tournament on Monday, the first game will be the number one seeded Metcalfe County Lady Hornets taking on the number four seeded Lady Lakers of Russell County. In the second game the number one seeded Clinton County Bulldogs will face the number four seeded Russell County Lakers.

“During the first night of the district you will have three different schools in the gym, so you have to have it planned where their fans will sit, where their cheerleaders will stand, where the band is going to sit and which locker room each team will use,” Beard said. “If it worked out to where there were only two schools playing on the same night it would be easier.

Beard said once the tournament is over you have to produce a financial report and send it to all the schools in the district, as well as the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.

“Hopefully we will have money left over that we can divide out among the schools,” Beard said. “You take out the expense of the awards and officials and some other things and you divide what’s left over among the other schools in the district.”

With the district tournament being held at The Castle this year, other teams in the rotation will come up in future years. Metcalfe County will host next year, followed by Russell County, Cumberland County and Clinton County again. Monroe County will join the mix with hosting the district in 2027.

“I’d say the majority of the work goes in before hand … before the tournament starts. We’ve got a lot of that behind us now,” Beard said. “You want your kids to be at home and comfortable, but it’s a lot of work. There is an advantage to having the district tournament at home.”

The Bulldogs will open up the district tournament for the boys with the first round game against Russell County on Monday, February 21, at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Dawgs, picking up the number two seed, will host Cumberland County, the number three seed, on Tuesday night, February 22, at 6 p.m.

Lady Dawg Head Coach Tim Moons, left, watched Monday night as Sara Turner and Aysha Sutton formed a trap around an Adair County player. Moons and his Lady Dawgs will play Tuesday night in the opening round of the 16th District Tournament at The Castle against Cumberland County. The Lady Dawgs picked up the number two seed in the tournament, while Cumberland County is the number three seed. Clinton County’s game will start at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play on Monday night against Russell County at 7:30 p.m. Clinton County earned the number one seed in the tournament by going 6-0 in regular season district play.