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

• Tennis (Girls/Boys) – Chattanooga, Champions Club & UTC

  

• Girls Flag Football – Murfreesboro, Richard Siegel Complex

  

• Lacrosse – Location TBD at August TSSAA meeting

• Pentathlon/Decathlon – Knoxville, Tom Black Track or local high school

Week 2: May 19–22, 2026

• Track & Field – Knoxville, Tom Black Track

• Baseball – Murfreesboro, Local HS Fields & MTSU Reese Smith Field

• Softball – Murfreesboro, StarPlex & MTSU Blue Raider Field

  

• Boys Soccer – Murfreesboro, Richard Siegel Complex

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

• 2027 Dead Period Set: June 28–July 11

• Transfer Rule Finalized: Beginning in 2025–26, first-time transfers due to academic, emotional, or environmental needs can maintain eligibility—if the sending school does not declare the move athletically or disciplinarily motivated within seven days.

• New Staff Appointment: E.J. Wood, Green Hill High School Athletic Director, hired as TSSAA’s next Assistant Executive Director.

• Official Actions and Site Approvals:

  • Approved tournament draws for the 2025–26 season.

  • Approved spring sports championship sites (except those listed TBD).

  • Approved Unified Flag Football as a state championship event.

  • Approved co-op agreements for J. Frank White Academy (girls' soccer) and Christ's Legacy Academy (with McMinn Central HS).

  • Denied classification changes for Memphis East HS and Southwind HS.

  • Approved PURE Academy in Memphis for TSSAA membership.

  • Reinstated Greg Rawlings as an official; denied reinstatement for Derek Villa.

Tournament & Format Decisions

• Ticket Prices (2025–26):

  • $13 on GoFan / $15 cash at high school venues

  • $15 on GoFan / $20 cash at collegiate/professional venues

  • No parking fees at venues controlled by TSSAA

• Game Times:

  • Division I Sectional Basketball and Volleyball games set for 7:00 PM local time unless mutually agreed otherwise.

• Format Decisions:

  • Denied golf "wild card" proposal from Page High School

  • Approved Region 2AAAA basketball format

  • Approved District 7AAAA quarterfinal central hosting request

  • Approved changes to bowling tiebreaker rules

  • Tabled decisions on volleyball tournament format and tennis regulations

• Disciplinary Updates:

  • Gibbs High School: restrictive probation removed; placed on probation for 2025–26

  • Johnson County High School: second year of probation removed