MT. JULIET, Tenn. — Less than two months after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a bill that opened the door for the state’s high school student-athletes to be granted a one-time transfer to any school they wish without eligibility penalties (beginning July 1), the TSSAA set parameters for how that law will be put into effect.
The TSSAA’s Legislative Council, which writes the rules all member schools must abide by, met Tuesday in a ballroom of the Courtyard by Marriott to discuss and vote on how the new law would be interpreted.
The biggest news from the meeting came when the council unanimously passed (by a 12-0 vote) a rule in which any previous transfer — regardless of reason — would fall under the umbrella of counting as the one-time transfer law.
For instance, if a student-athlete transferred earlier in their high school varsity career for any reason — including bona fide change of residence, mental health, etc. — even if that took place prior to the new state law being passed, that would count as the student-athlete’s one-time transfer.
Any further transfer by that student-athlete would now only be approved through the filing of a hardship, to be heard and decided upon by TSSAA officials.