TSSAA Approves Major Overhaul to Spring Fling, Transfer Rule, and More

Jun 11, 2025 at 02:23 pm by Primetime Sports


MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – For the first time in nearly two decades, Spring Fling—the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s (TSSAA) marquee championship event—will undergo major structural changes. The Board of Control voted 8-4 this week to split the annual multi-sport event across different locations in 2026 and 2027. This will mark the first time in the 32-years of Spring Fling all events won't happen in a centralized location. Chattanooga and Memphis hosted all of the spring sports events in the 13-years before coming to Murfreesboro in 2006. 

 

Beginning in 2026, Spring Fling will become a two-week event spread across multiple cities. Murfreesboro will retain several major events—baseball, softball, boys soccer, and boys tennis—but others will be relocated. Track and field, decathlon, and pentathlon events will move to Knoxville, while girls tennis shifts to Chattanooga. Additionally, girls’ flag football, newly approved as a sanctioned TSSAA sport, will debut at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro during Week 1. The city hosted this past season's first ever invitational state tournament.

Week 1: May 12–16, 2026

Week 2: May 19–22, 2026

By 2027, the schedule will follow a similar format, with adjusted dates but identical city placements for each sport.

Realignment to Spring Fling wasn't the only significant change approved by the TSSAA this week. The Legislative Council finalized language on a new transfer rule that will go into effect in the 2025–26 school year. Under the new rule, the first time a student transfers schools due to verified academic, mental health, or environmental needs, they can maintain eligibility—so long as the sending school does not attest to athletic or disciplinary motivations within seven days of the transfer notice.

Also discussed, though no action was taken, was the possibility of moving D1 state basketball quarterfinals away from MTSU's Murphy Center to cut costs and consolidate the boys’ and girls’ state tournaments into one week. 

Decisions from the TSSAA Board of Control Meeting

Tournament & Format Decisions

 

Tags: Chattanooga tennis TSSAA high school sports championship Tennessee Knoxville track TSSAA Spring Fling changes Spring Fling Murfreesboro Tennessee high school sports TSSAA board decisions TSSAA girls flag football TSSAA Spring Fling 2026 TSSAA transfer rule 2025
Sections: News Prep Sports News