Upper Cumberland Athletic Directors are generally against the one-time transfer rule voted down recently by the TSSAA Board of Control.
The change would have allowed students to transfer to any school for any reason, without the student being ruled ineligible. White County Schools Athletic Director Terry Crain said he believes the rule would likely be abused.
“If they allow a one-time transfer three or four years from now they may be allowing a two-time transfer and it’s just going to create chaos,” Crain said. “You know we are against it at White County High School.”
Many state legislators are pushing to have the one-time transfer rule passed. Cookeville High School Athletics Director Adam Kefauver said he believes legislators want the rule passed to go along with the school voucher system.
“My personal opinion I don’t think it goes against legislation,” Kefauver said. “No one is arguing against the student’s or parent’s right to choose that’s set forth by the legislation. They are just trying to establish guidelines for equity in scholastic sports in which you know sports are a privilege and not a constitutionally protected right.”
Crain said small schools could lose their best players and that competitiveness amongst several schools in the Upper Cumberland could be in jeopardy. Crain said with how close schools are in the Upper Cumberland he would not be surprised if the school systems saw a lot of transfers.
“A lot of our schools are so close to each other that driving to a different school is not an issue if you understand what I’m saying,” Crain said. “You know if I don’t like this school or if I don’t think I’m getting the playing time that I need to get at this school then I’m just gonna transfer to another school. It’s only a 25-minute drive or a 30-minute drive.”
Kefavuer said the transfer hardship rule the TSSAA has now is already a good system.
“If you are deemed ineligible you can file a hardship based on certain situations,” Kefauver said. “A lot of times they’ll give you your eligibility with those hardships being reviewed.”
Kefauver said if the transfer rule passes, it would be inevitable that high school coaches would start to recruit athletes. Kefauver said he believes Cookeville High School will see more negative impact than other schools in the Upper Cumberland.
“I think for us being a big school at Cookeville High School that particularly is going to affect us more than it is going to affect other people,” Kefauver said. “We will probably have more kids going away from us than we would have kids going into our programs.”
Kefauver and Crain both said they would not be surprised if the transfer rule passed. High school sports could end up like college sports where student-athletes can be paid for name image and likeness deals. Kefauver and Crain both that playing time would be one of the factors why a student would transfer.
