Latest news with #TSSAALegislativeCouncil
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
- Sport
- Yahoo
How to watch the TSSAA Legislative Council one-time transfer proposal decision
The TSSAA Legislative Council will hold a specially called meeting Monday to discuss a proposal that would allow athletes one transfer to another school without loss of eligibility if the move is for reasons unrelated to athletics. The TSSAA's proposal 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. Senator Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, a co-sponsor of the bill, described the TSSAA's new proposal as 'tone deaf.' The discussion highlights the tension between school choice legislation and what some believe to be a fair-play issue in high school sports. More: TSSAA Legislative Council to review new one-time transfer proposal at special meeting Legislators and the TSSAA 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 meeting will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 3 and be streamed live by the TSSAA staff in conjunction with the NFHS Network. ● How to watch: TSSAA streaming page. 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: How to watch Legislative Council meeting 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'
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
TSSAA Legislative Council to review new one-time transfer proposal at special meeting
The TSSAA Legislative Council will hold a special meeting March 3 to discuss a proposal that would allow athletes one free transfer to another school without loss of eligibility if the transfer is for reasons unrelated to athletics. The TSSAA staff proposed an addition to the eligibility bylaws that would 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 proposal comes as Tennessee legislators consider House Bill No. 0025, which if passed into law would change TSSAA transfer rules to allow athletes one free transfer without eligibility restrictions. The TSSAA's long-standing transfer rule 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. More: TSSAA not only state facing legislative pressure to change high school transfer rules The Council unanimously denied a proposal at its Feb. 4 meeting that would have allowed Tennessee high school athletes a one-time free transfer without eligibility restrictions regardless of the reason. That proposal, from Baylor School in Chattanooga, aligned with House Bill No. 0025. The TSSAA released its new proposal Tuesday as an agenda item for the Council's special meeting. Days earlier, the TSSAA emailed Tennessee high school coaches a Google Form asking for input on transfer rules. The Tennessean obtained a screenshot of the survey, which contained one question: 'Are you in favor of one-time transfers with no restriction in varsity eligibility as proposed in House Bill 25?' The Tennessean does not have access to the results of the survey. A transfer by a new student under the new proposal must be consistent with three primary TSSAA objectives for member schools in its bylaws: to maintain academics as schools' primary mission; prevent the exploitation of students for athletic purposes; and foster fair competition among TSSAA member schools. 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 new proposal states the school from which the athlete is transferring would have to verify that the move is not for athletic or disciplinary reasons. The school would have seven days to provide verification of that; if the school doesn't, 'the conclusion will be made that the student meets the above-mentioned requirements." After an athlete transfers one time, all eligibility issues will be addressed through the TSSAA's hardship rule, which requires a formal appeal to the TSSAA executive director. The Council asked the TSSAA staff at its previous meeting to create potential changes to the residence rule because its exception for boarding school students creates a competitive advantage. The TSSAA's current residency rule allows boarding students to gain immediate athletic eligibility without a bona fide change of address if transferring from 20 or more miles away. Transfer students at non-boarding private schools and public schools aren't allowed to do that unless the TSSAA grants them a hardship waiver, or if their entire family unit moves into the zone to which they're transferring. The Council will consider several options at its meeting next week, including eliminating the residence rule; not allowing athletic eligibility for an international student who has completed the secondary school requirements in his/her country of origin; or requiring all students changing schools in the 11th or 12th grade to be living with a parent. If a student is not living with a parent, the student must have lived with the person for at least twelve months before changing schools. Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@ and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA writes new one-time tranfser proposal
