TSSAA one-time transfer proposal in Tennessee approved with 8-4 vote

Yahoo

03-03-2025

HERMITAGE — The TSSAA Legislative Council approved a proposal Monday that will allow athletes one free transfer to another school without loss of eligibility if the transfer is for reasons unrelated to athletics.
The Council approved the proposal in an 8-4 vote at its special-called meeting. The new bylaw will allow students one free transfer to another school due to reasons of significant academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health need as long as the sending school's administration could attest the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons.
The decision comes as Tennessee legislators consider House Bill 25, which if passed into law would change TSSAA transfer rules to allow athletes one free transfer without eligibility restrictions.
More: TSSAA basketball region tournament brackets, scores for Nashville area
More: TSSAA basketball state tournament: Division II championships brackets
The TSSAA and lawmakers have been discussing the association's transfer rules for more than a year. TSSAA member schools have wanted to keep the long-standing bylaw that requires athletes who leave one school for another in a different zone to be ineligible for one calendar year from their last varsity game unless they have a bona fide change of address.
Legislators are pushing to make the rule less restrictive in light of the Tennessee legislature's approval of a $447 million statewide publicly funded school voucher program.
HB25's author, Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, told The Tennesseean he would pull the legislation if the Council approved a change that aligned with the bill. Cepicky and Senator Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, a co-sponsor of the bill, both said last week that the TSSAA's new proposal wasn't sufficient enough to do that.
The TSSAA Legislative Council unanimously denied a proposal at its Feb. 4 meeting that aligned with HB25 and would have allowed an unrestricted one-time transfer for athletes.
Council members said they wanted to find a pathway for students to transfer without restriction as long as the move didn't involve athletics. That drove the TSSAA staff to write the proposal considered on Monday.
The TSSAA voted to return in April to discuss more specifics about the proposal, such as how long schools will have to verify whether the student is transferring for non-athletic reasons.
After an athlete transfers one time under the new rule, all eligibility issues will be addressed through the TSSAA's hardship rule, which requires a formal appeal to the TSSAA executive director.
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at [e-mail] and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA one-time transfer proposal in Tennessee approved in 8-4 vote