TSSAA Board Adds A Classification In 3 Div. I Sports!

Decision effective with upcoming two year classification cycle.

August 17, 2020

At their meeting on Monday, August 17, the Board voted on the number of classes in each sport in Division I and Division II for the next two-year cycle. 

The biggest change seen in the structure of classification was the Board voting to go from three classes to four in Division I in the sports of basketball, baseball, and softball. The Board voted to continue to bring eight teams to the state tournament in each of the three sports.

Football didn’t see any changes, as the Board voted to keep the same number of classes in both Division I (six classes) and Division II (three classes). All other sports will have the same number of classes as the previous classification cycle.

At their previous meeting in July, the TSSAA Board of Control voted to classify schools using the 20-day enrollment figures for a two-year period, compared to the usual four-year cycle. This will go through the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.

More TSSAA News From Meeting:

 The Board voted to permit Zion Christian Academy to play a Non-Region football schedule and allow them to participate in the basketball post-season tournament series for the next two years.

Denied RePublic High School’s request for a cooperative agreement in football. The state office was notified that they are discontinuing their football program this year.

Denied RePublic High School’s appeal regarding the school’s probationary status for two years. The school’s boys’ basketball program is on restrictive probation and the school’s total athletic program is on probation through January 23, 2022, due to a brawl that occurred during the boys’ basketball contest against Hume- Fogg Academic Magnet High School on January 10, 2020. The school’s boys’ basketball program was already on probation from a previous situation when this incident occurred.

Polk Innovative Learning Academy was approved for membership in TSSAA. This is a public virtual school under the Polk County Board of Education. They currently have 50 students in grades K-11. They plan to form a cooperative agreement with Polk County High School. They do not plan to offer any sports sanctioned by TSSAA.