Bernard Childress, executive director of the TSSAA.The biggest issue facing Tennessee high school sports for more than two decades is expected to take a giant step toward finally being decided today.
The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s Legislative Council, which sets the rules for the state’s high school athletic teams, will hold a special meeting this morning to discuss five proposals for how to deal with the issue of whether public and private schools should continue competing in the same division for district and state championships or split into completely separate divisions.
“This is, by far, the biggest decision since I took over [in 2009] because it will shape the direction of our future,” TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress said. “Whatever is decided, it will determine the future of high school sports for both public schools and independent schools for years to come.”
Once the nine-member council narrows the choices at today’s meeting, being held at the Embassy Suites and Convention Center in Murfreesboro, the group will also set a date, expected to be in mid-July, to vote on what has been a recurring hot-button issue for more than 20 years. Whether that vote finally puts an end to the long-standing public-private debate will largely depend on which of the five proposals advance past today.
“We need to go ahead and deal with it this calendar year because if there’s a major change we need as much time as possible to plan for it before the next school year begins,” Childress said. “Our member schools deserve to know how to prepare. If there were to be a complete split, we have to start from scratch in every sport and every class and look at what the proper number of classes would be for each sport, in Division I and Division II. That would require a lot of work.”