The Legislative Council will meet on Tuesday, April 8 at at the TSSAA office building in Hermitage. The meeting will begin at 9:00 a.m.
The Residence Rule will be among the items to be discussed by the Council. The staff was charged with bringing back potential changes to the residence rule to make the rule apply equally to all students. The Legislative Council adopted one provision at its March 3 meeting which will prevent international students who have completed their secondary school requirements in his/her country of origin from being eligible for participation. The Legislative Council tabled any further action to this meeting.
Christ Presbyterian Academy has submitted a revised proposal that would require the rules for determining classification to be set and applied in the same manner to all classifications/divisions and sports. This item was tabled by the Legislative Council during the December meeting.
A live stream of the meeting will be available at https://tssaasports.com/nfhsnetwork/meeting.cfm
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AGENDA
April 9, 2024
Hermitage, Tennessee
1. Executive Session/Litigation Report
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting
4. Old Business
a. Emerging Sports
During the December Legislative Council meeting, the members of the Council approved an addition to Article IV of the TSSAA Constitution to establish thresholds for sanctioning emerging sports. The proposed language for this addition to the TSSAA Constitution will be provided as a supplement at the meeting.
b. Proposed Change to Article I, Section 5 of the TSSAA Bylaws (Sanctioned Sports) Franklin High School has submitted a proposal for Girls’ Flag Football to become a TSSAA sanctioned sport. This item was tabled during the December Legislative Council meeting.
c. Change to the TSSAA Sports Calendar During the December Legislative Council meeting, the members of the Council approved a change to the TSSAA Sports Calendar to allow for 8 days of off/preseason practice during a 15-day period for all sports except football. The Council asked the staff to bring back recommended language for approval. Proposed language for this change to the Sports Calendar will be provided as a supplement at the meeting.
d. TSSAA Transfer Rules Update
Transfer Rule Considerations – Keep Current Rules
For Against Didn’t Vote
West 57 38 5
East 83 59 4
Middle 102 43 8
Totals 242 (60.7%) 140 (35.1%) 17 (4.3%)
e. Residence Rule
The Legislative Council considered possible revisions to the Residence Rule during their meeting on December 7, 2023, and asked the state office to bring language for their consideration to the April meeting. Proposed changes to Article II (Eligibility) of the TSSAA Bylaws will be provided as a supplement at the meeting.
f. Non-traditional Student Eligibility The Legislative Council needs to determine how to handle homeschool and virtual school students that are currently participating at a school that will not meet the new Non-traditional Student rule when it goes into effect next year.
5. New Business
a. TSSAA Building Update
b. Proposed Change to Article I, Section 9 (Coaching Requirements) Current Non-faculty Coach Registration fees are $50 per high school coach and $25
per middle school coach. This proposal is to increase each fee by $25. The proposed language will be provided as a supplement at the meeting.
c. Proposed Change to Article III, Section 9 (Coaches Ejected for Unsportsmanlike Incidents) The fine for a coach ejection is currently $250. This fine has not increased in over 25 years. To be the deterrent this penalty was when it was first implemented, this proposal would increase the fine to $500 to account for inflation. Proposed language will be provided as a supplement at the meeting.
d. Membership Fee Discussion
Membership Fees have not been adjusted since 1988. The state office would like to discuss a restructure of membership fees that could be presented at the Regional Meetings in November of 2024.
e. Football Sports Calendar The state office is recommending a change to the Date of the First Contest in Football.
f. Proposed Change to Article III, Section 7 (Student Athletes Ejected for Unsportsmanlike Conduct in Any Sport) The state office is recommending a change to Student Athletes Ejected for Unsportsmanlike Conduct in Soccer. The proposal will be provided as a supplement at the meeting..
g. Proposed Change to Article IV, Section 8 (TSSAA Sports Calendar) Science Hill High School proposes that member schools be allowed to play in 3 tournaments in boys’ and girls’ basketball during the regular season.
h. Discussion of Independent Game Participation Rule The state office has recently received a number of questions concerning the Independent Game Participation Rule and would like to share a few examples of the interpretations that have been issued over the years.
