TSSAA denies one-time transfer proposal for Tennessee high school athletes

A proposal that would have allowed high school athletes in the state of Tennessee the opportunity to transfer schools once without eligibility restrictions was denied by the TSSAA Legislative Council on Tuesday.

The Council came to a unanimous 12-0 vote, promptly denying the proposal, which was made by Chattanooga’s Baylor School.

The current TSSAA legislation requires any athlete that’s transferring school zones to be ineligible for one calendar year, dating back to their previous varsity game. The athlete would be exempt from ineligibility if they have a bona fide change of residence.

Tennessee House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison weighed in following the denial of the proposal: “Too bad the TSSAA voted against student athletes. We have introduced a bill in the legislature that will circumvent the TSSAA and do the right thing for our young Tennesseans,” he wrote on X.

Back in December, the TSSAA provided an update regarding the proposal, noting that it was tabled for Tuesday’s hearing. Multiple state legislators have previously spoken about the proposal.

“At the TSSAA regional meetings earlier this year, a majority of the public schools (58%) and a larger majority of the independent schools (72%) were opposed to a proposal that would permit a one-time transfer without a bona fide change of residence, without loss of athletic eligibility. With that said, a significant number of member schools did support the proposal (40%),” the Council wrote.

According to The Tennessean’s Tyler Palmateer, the TSSAA “promised to discuss allowing more potential transfer freedom in the future.” A special meeting to discuss potential changes has been scheduled prior to the Council’s regularly-scheduled April meeting, according to Palmateer.