Two-day meeting held in Mt. Juliet
June 10, 2025
The TSSAA Board of Control and Legislative Council met in Mt. Juliet this week, to address more than 40 combined items between their two agendas.
Both governing bodies held a Strategic Planning session on Tuesday. An update on the TSSAA building project was given as well.
The Board and Council held a joint meeting to discuss sanctioning and hosting championships for Girls’ Flag Football.
The Board voted to remove Girls’ Flag Football from “emerging sport” status and for a state championship to be held for the sport. In turn, the Legislative Council approved the sport to be played in the spring.
The Legislative Council also met to approve the final language of several bylaws that will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year. The language of the new transfer rule was finalized and they approved the time a school has to respond to a transfer request under the new transfer rule.
The first time the student transfers to another school due to a significant academic, social-emotional, environmental or mental health need provided that the sending school’s administration does not attest that the transfer is for athletic or disciplinary reasons within seven days of notification of the transfer.
E.J. Wood, Athletic Director at Green Hill High School, was approved to be hired as a new Assistant Executive Director on the TSSAA staff. Mr. Wood replaces Gene Menees, who retired after working for 34 years with the TSSAA.
The Board voted to earmark $40,500 ($1500 per school) for the athletic programs of the 27 A.F. Bridges school winners.
A proposal submitted by Page High School in the sport of golf to add a “Wild Card” team and individuals to the state tournament by reducing the number of automatic individual qualifiers was denied.
On Wednesday, the Board voted to make the following changes to ticket prices for the 2025-26 school year for championship events:
Where TSSAA has control of parking, eliminate all parking fees and raise ticket prices. TSSAA will develop revenue sharing options for high school and middle school host sites that have previously received $5 per car.
High school
● Spectator Tickets: $13 of GoFan/$15 Cash per person per day
● At collegiate, professional, and multi-purpose arenas or venues: Spectator Tickets: $15 on GoFan/$20 Cash per person per day
● No parking charge, except in metropolitan areas where TSSAA does not control lots.
Middle school
● Spectator Tickets: $10 on GoFan/$12 Cash per person per day
● No parking charge.
Unified Flag Football was approved by the Board for a state championship. This allows for one Unified Championship per sport season (Fall – Unified Flag Football, Winter – Unified Bowling, Spring – Unified Track and Field).
The Board approved site selections for spring sport championships for 2025 and 2026. High School Lacrosse and Middle School Baseball will be brought back to the Board in August.
Week 1:
Dates within each week subject to change after negotiations with the host sites.
HS Tennis – Chattanooga – Tue-Fri – May 12-15, 2026; May 18-21, 2027 – Champions Club, UTC
MS Softball – Chattanooga – Tue-Wed – May 12-13, 2026; May 18-19, 2027 – Warner Park or Summit of Softball
MS Baseball – Chattanooga area – Tue-Wed – May 12-13, 2026; May 18-19, 2027 – TBD
MS Soccer – Murfreesboro – Wed-Thu – May 13-14, 2026; May 19-20, 2027 – Richard Siegel Soccer Complex
HS Girls Flag Football – Murfreesboro – Thu-Fri – May 14-15, 2026; May 20-21, 2027 – Richard Siegel Soccer Complex
HS Lacrosse – Fri-Sat – May 15-16, 2026; May 21-22, 2027 – TBD
HS Pentathlon & Decathlon – Knoxville – Wed-Fri only 2 days – May 13-15, 2026; May 19-21, 2027 – Tom Black Track or local HS
Week 2:
Dates within each week subject to change after negotiations with the host sites.
Sport – City – Proposed Days – Proposed Dates – Venue
MS Track & Field – Knoxville – Mon – May 18, 2026; May 24, 2027 – Tom Black Track
HS Track & Field – Knoxville – Tue-Thu – May 19-21, 2026; May 25-27, 2027 – Tom Black Track
HS Baseball – Murfreesboro – Tue-Fri – May 19-22, 2026; May 25-28, 2027 – Local HS Fields, MTSU Reese Smith Field
HS Softball – Murfreesboro – Tue-Fri – May 19-22, 2026; May 25-28, 2027 – StarPlex & McKnight, MTSU Blue Raider Field
HS Soccer – Murfreesboro – Tue-Fri – May 19-22, 2026; May 25-28, 2027 – Richard Siegel Soccer Complex
The Board voted to set the dates of the 2027 Dead Period from June 28-July 11.
A Summary from the Legislative Council meeting can be found below. The full summary of the Board agenda is below.
Approved the Minutes of the February 27, 2025, meeting without reading as the members of the Board had been sent a copy for review.
Hired E.J. Wood as the next TSSAA Assistant Executive Director.
Allowed the state office to conduct tournament draws for all necessary tournaments during the 2025-26 school year.
Earmarked $40,500 ($1500 per school) for the athletic programs of the 27 A.F. Bridges school winners.
Approved District 7AAAA’s request to host three quarterfinal tournament games at a central location on specific dates.
Approved Region 2AAAA’s proposed basketball tournament format, the same format approved last year.
Accepted the proposal for Division I Sectional Basketball games and Division I Sectional Volleyball games to be played at 7:00 local time, unless agreed otherwise.
Tabled the decision on the Volleyball State Tournament Format.
Approved proposed changes in Bowling regulations concerning tie-breaking rules.
Tabled the decision on Tennis regulations.
Denied the Golf Proposal from Page High School.
Approved the 2025-2026 State Tournament Ticket Price recommendations.
Approved the discussion of DII brackets for all sports except football.
Approved a state championship for Unified Flag Football.
Approved the spring sports championship sites as recommended by the staff, except those listed as “TBD” which will be considered in August.
Approved the 2027 Dead Period dates.
Removed the restrictive probation for Gibbs High School and placed the program on probation for 2025-26.
Removed the second year of probation for Johnson County High School.
Approved J. Frank White Academy’s co-op request for girls’ soccer.
Denied Christ’s Legacy Academy’s co-op exception request for football.
Approved Christ’s Legacy Academy’s co-op request with McMinn Central High School in multiple sports.
Denied the appeal to reinstate an official’s registration (Derek Villa).
Reinstated an official’s registration (Greg Rawlings).
Denied Memphis East High School’s request for a classification change.
Denied Southwind High School’s request for a classification change.
Approved PURE Academy, Memphis’s application for TSSAA membership.