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Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee lawmakers will research possibility of dissolving or taking control of TSSAA
Tennessee legislators this summer will research the possibility of dissolving the governing body for Tennessee high school athletics, or bringing it under the control of the state government. Lawmakers have been at odds with the TSSAA, a 501c non-profit that has governed high school sports in Tennessee since 1925, over the association's previous transfer rule going back to 2023. Advertisement Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, and Senator Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, now say their interest goes beyond the rule. Cepicky and Lowe said during a joint April 21 press conference that they believe the TSSAA has not been trustworthy during discussions over the past six months and questioned the association's Legislative Council. More: Tennessee lawmakers pause one-time transfer bill aimed at TSSAA until 2026 More: Why out-of-state athletes can utilize TSSAA's new one-time transfer rule Cepicky and Lowe co-sponsored bills this session that were originally written to force the TSSAA to adopt a rule that allowed student-athletes one free transfer without eligibility restrictions. Those bills were eventually amended to reflect a bylaw the TSSAA amended on March 3 that allows students one free transfer to another school due to reasons of significant academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health needs. That's if the sending school's administration attests the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons. Advertisement The bill was one step from becoming law after its Senate version SB16 passed, 25-4, on April 7. When HB25 reached the House floor on April 17, Cepicky acknowledged that many House members wanted him to drop the bill, so he moved it to the next calendar date in February 2026. Cepicky and Lowe say the TSSAA didn't take action on loosening students' ability to transfer until the legislature became involved. Cepicky believes the TSSAA held out on passing its rule to see if the two lawmakers would drop their bills. "Rep. Cepicky, myself, members of leadership are having very active conversations to consider whether or not there needs to be legislative oversight of this entity, or of the activity of our public school students' athletic participation," Lowe said. Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for him? Reach Tyler at tpalmateer@ and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83. He also writes The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg. Subscribe to the newsletter here. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee lawmakers looking into dissolving TSSAA after one-time transfer spat
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Tennessee one-time transfer bill aimed at TSSAA is one step closer to becoming law
The Tennessee House Education committee on Wednesday approved a bill that could create the first state law to affect the TSSAA's high school athletics transfer rules. The committee's 10-9 vote approving House Bill 25 came after 45 minutes of debate ranging from the bill's sponsor expressing distrust in the TSSAA, to the state association questioning government involvement in its bylaws. The bill will become law if approved by full House and Senate votes. The Senate version of HB25, SB16, passed through the Senate Education Committee, 6-3, last week. More: Meet The Tennessean's boys and girls 2025 All-Midstate high school wrestling teams More: Cleveland forced to vacate TSSAA girls wrestling dual state title after investigation It's the latest chapter in the one-time transfer saga that involves three years of discussions between the TSSAA and lawmakers, but the debate looks different than it did four months ago. Since then, the bills and TSSAA's transfer rules have all been heavily amended to the point their language is nearly identical. Lawmakers and the TSSAA mainly disagree about whether the finality of making high school athletic transfer rules into law is wise. The TSSAA believes state laws on the issue will open the door for litigation that one day could lead to a free-transfer policy in the state. HB25 and SB16 allow public schools to belong to the TSSAA as long as the association allows students one free transfer to another school due to reasons of significant academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health need. That's if the sending school's administration attests the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons. The transfer must also take place before the first day of school. That language is very similar to the TSSAA's current rule, except the TSSAA believes students who transfer for those reasons should be able to do so throughout the year. The TSSAA believes its Legislative Council is better positioned than the state legislature to quickly change the rule if it doesn't work as intended. That was echoed by Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville on Wednesday: 'To say that it's simple to come back to this general assembly or any general assembly (and modify law) … It's disingenuous to say that. It's disingenuous to say that it's easy. Nothing is easy in this process.' HB25's author, Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, outwardly questioned the Legislative Council and believes his discussions with the TSSAA no longer seem to be in good faith. Cepicky said he feels the TSSAA will go back on its current rule if there isn't state law on it. TSSAA executive director Mark Reeves said during his testimony that the TSSAA would not do that. '(Conversations with the TSSAA) started out as very amicable,' Cepicky said. 'Unfortunately, it's gone downhill from there.' TSSAA general counsel Rick Colbert told the committee in his testimony that lawmakers put the TSSAA Legislative Council members in a difficult position by chastising them in the media for failing to approve a Baylor School proposal for a one-time transfer rule in February. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, who authored SB16, publicly called the Council 'tone deaf.' Reeves, Colbert and newly elected Board of Control president Grant Swallows reiterated in testimony Wednesday that the association will face serious issues if there are any high school athletics transfer rules in state law. Colbert said the TSSAA is ill-equipped to handle the increased litigation he believes would take place, and that he could foresee inconsistent court decisions across different jurisdictions. 'We are disappointed with the vote but also understand that they have a tough job in trying to make an informed decision in a limited amount of time on a very complicated issue,' Reeves told The Tennessean in a text message. 'I am, however, confident (in) our member schools, our (Board of Control and Legislative Council), and our staff will continue to work tirelessly to maximize opportunities for students while trying to keep athletics in its proper perspective.' Lowe has been vested in the topic since authoring the Access and Opportunity Act (AOA), which was passed into state law in March 2023. The AOA advocates 'equal access' to extracurricular activities for transfer students, with the exception of athletics. In December, HB25 and SB16 proposed to make it illegal for public schools to use state funding for membership in any interscholastic regulatory association that doesn't allow student-athletes one free transfer to another school without eligibility restrictions, regardless of the reason. That was a much less restrictive version of the TSSAA's transfer rule at the time, which simply stated that 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. By February, with Tennessee's newly signed $447 million school voucher program as a backdrop, the TSSAA faced pressure to find athletic eligibility pathways for students who accept vouchers. The TSSAA proposed to its Legislative Council to write a provision to the current transfer rule — allowing one free transfer for non-athletic reasons — effectively loosening it. The proposal passed by an 8-4 vote. Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@ and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee one-time transfer: State legislature inches closer to passing law
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
TSSAA tells Tennessee high school coaches one-time transfer bill ‘must be defeated'
The TSSAA is making a final push against Tennessee legislation targeting the state's high school athletics transfer rules. The TSSAA sent a letter to Tennessee high school coaches on Sunday 'strongly' encouraging them to ask their local representatives to vote no on House Bill 25 and Senate Bill 16. The TSSAA provided the letter to The Tennessean. It states that the bills, while amended to include similar language to a change the TSSAA Legislative Council made to its transfer rule earlier this month, would lessen the state high school association's ability to oversee its rule. 'If you want the member schools of TSSAA to continue to have control of transfer eligibility issues, we believe the bill must be defeated,' the letter says. " We strongly encourage you to prioritize some time on Monday to contact your representative to respectfully ask that they vote (no on the bills).This will allow the transfer rule that the TSSAA Legislative Council just amended to have an opportunity to take effect and avoid these unnecessary, unintended consequences." HB25 advanced to the House Education Committee and will be heard Wednesday. SB16 passed the Senate Education Committee by a 6-3 vote last Wednesday and will be placed on the Senate calendar. More: TSSAA still isn't serving athletes' best interests with new transfer rule | Opinion More: Tennessee lawmaker slams new TSSAA one-time transfer proposal, calling it 'tone deaf' More: Tennessee high school coaches sound off on TSSAA's latest one-time transfer proposal The bills must be voted through the House and Senate to become law. The bills were intended to provide student-athletes more freedom and initially threatened to change TSSAA transfer rules to allow athletes one free transfer without eligibility restrictions regardless of the reason. The TSSAA's transfer rule, until the Council's provision on March 3, required athletes who transfer schools to be ineligible for one year unless they have a bona fide change of address. The provision loosened the TSSAA's rule, allowing athletes one free transfer to another school without loss of eligibility if the transfer is due to reasons of significant academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health need. That's as long as the sending school's administration could attest within seven days that the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons. TSSAA executive director Mark Reeves and association legal counsel Rick Colbert said, during testimony at the House Education Administration subcommittee hearing on March 18 and the Senate Education Committee's hearing last week, that the association will face serious issues if there are high school athletics transfer rules in state law. Colbert said the TSSAA is ill-equipped to handle the increased litigation he believes would take place, and that he foresees inconsistent court decisions from judges in different counties. The TSSAA member schools would ultimately bear the legal costs. The House and Senate bills also do not address transfers in specific situations that would violate other TSSAA rules, such the coaching link and age rule. TSSAA rules don't allow students to be eligible if they're 19 on or before August 1 of a school year. Students are also ineligible if they transfer to a new school where an athletic coaching link exists in the past 12 months. If Tennessee passes legislation regulating athletic transfer rules, the TSSAA believes it would lead to a landscape like the NCAA's where there are no transfer rules at all. The association has long said that its transfer restrictions inhibit illegal recruiting between high schools and uphold TSSAA core principles. 'Adding any TSSAA eligibility requirements to Tennessee State Law will eventually make it very difficult for TSSAA to have any transfer restrictions,' the TSSAA letter to coaches states. 'Putting eligibility rules into state law will make it unnecessarily difficult to adjust eligibility rules as needed.' Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@ and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA one-time transfer rule: Coaches urged to push back on Tennessee legislation
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
TSSAA one-time transfer proposal in Tennessee approved with 8-4 vote
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 tpalmateer@ 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
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee lawmaker slams new TSSAA one-time transfer proposal, calling it ‘tone deaf'
A recent TSSAA proposal to amend its bylaws is not easing pressure from Tennessee state legislators who want to change the Tennessee high school sports governing body's transfer rules. Senator Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, described the TSSAA's proposal as 'tone deaf' in a statement to The Tennessean on Thursday. The proposal, released Tuesday and to be discussed at the TSSAA Legislative Council's special-called meeting on Monday, would allow athletes one free transfer to another school without loss of eligibility as long as it's not for athletic reasons. Lowe said the proposal does not align with House Bill 25, which he is sponsoring and if passed into law would allow athletes one free transfer without restrictions regardless of the reason. 'Upon reviewing the (TSSAA's) proposal, we notified (TSSAA executive) director (Mark) Reeves that it seemed tone deaf to all the previous conversations we previously had,' Lowe said, adding that Lowe and HB25 author Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, will proceed with their legislation. More: TSSAA basketball region tournament brackets, scores for Nashville area More: TSSAA basketball state tournament: Division II championships brackets Reeves did not immediately respond to a text message from The Tennessean seeking response to Lowe's statement. Reeves did speak after the TSSAA's Board of Control meeting on Thursday, saying he hoped the TSSAA's new proposal 'would be sufficient in the eyes of the legislature.' The two sides have communicated for more than a year about the TSSAA's transfer rules, with TSSAA member schools wishing 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. Their interest increased leading up to the Tennessee legislature's approval of a $447 million statewide publicly funded school voucher program. 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. But Council members said they wanted to find a pathway for students to transfer without restriction as long as the move was for academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health reasons. More: Nashville area's top TSSAA softball players to watch for 2025 season More: Nashville area's top TSSAA baseball players to watch for 2025 season The TSSAA's new proposal would require the school from which the student is transferring to provide verification that the move is not for athletic reasons. Lowe said students' privacy would be violated during that process. He said it would also expose schools to potential litigation if they pushed back against an athlete's transfer request; that is viewed as a gray area as the Court of Appeals deemed athletic participation in Tennessee to be 'a mere privilege' and not a right in the 2015 case Bean v. Wilson County School System. Milan athletics director Greg Scott and other members of the TSSAA Board of Control have no power to make legislative decisions. But one of their jobs is to rule on hardship applications for students who wish to gain immediate eligibility after transferring for reasons related to academics, mental health or otherwise. Scott said most schools he talks with aren't in favor of a one-time transfer rule in any form, but he believes the Board has become more lenient in its recent hardship rulings. 'We have approved more of those in the past several months, probably, than we have in my 12 years on the Board, when it comes to mental health,' Scott said. More: Meet the top Nashville area boys soccer players entering 2025 TSSAA season Board member Bryan True, who is assistant principal and athletics director at Loretto, agreed with that assessment. Regarding the TSSAA's new proposal, True said an increase in transfers, even if for academic reasons, can have a ripple effect that might hurt small schools. 'If I'm a small school and I've got a large school in my county, they can offer a lot more electives than I can,' True said. 'We've got to look at that. What are we doing to small schools here? It could damage small schools in that situation.' Days before releasing its proposal, the TSSAA sent out a survey to more than 6,000 Tennessee high school coaches asking if they were in favor of a transfer rule mirroring HB25. Out of 2,675 responses, 54% were not in favor. Fulton athletics director and boys basketball coach Jody Wright was one who voted no. He believes illegal recruiting between schools would increase and schools who abide by the rules would suffer as a result. Wright also understands the growing school choice philosophy across the nation. Florida began allowing unlimited transfers without restriction in 2016. Indiana's board of directors will discuss a one-time transfer rule in May after it passed its executive board last week. Oklahoma and New Jersey passed a one-time transfer rule in 2023. Other state associations in Illinois, Arkansas and Missouri, are monitoring state legislation that could have a ripple effect on their rules. 'I haven't read the (new) proposal but it at least has some guardrails on it,' Wright said. 'It's going to be hard to not have some type of policy in place, seeing that legislators passed a voucher program. They're not going to spend millions of dollars on a bill and not allow a kid to play athletics." Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@ and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee lawmaker calls new TSSAA 1-time transfer proposal 'tone deaf'
