TSSAA Official Rules for Volleyball

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association governs junior high and high school sports in the state. The organization sanctions girls volleyball, but not boys volleyball, as an indoor sport. TSSAA bylaws establish rules regarding league and playoff format in addition to player eligibility. The playing rules for girls volleyball are taken from the National Federation of State High School Associations rule book.

  1. Player Eligibility

    • Players are eligible to participate in high school volleyball in Tennessee if they are enrolled and attending a member school for at least five courses or the equivalent. When the volleyball season starts before the beginning of the official school year, a player is eligible to participate if she is enrolled in school and lives within the appropriate school district boundaries. Once a student begins the ninth grade, she has eight semesters of eligibility to complete her high school athletic career. A player who reaches her 19th birthday on or before August 1 can no longer play high school volleyball in Tennessee. Each player must have a physical examination prior to participating in any practice or game, and there must be an athletic physical form on file with the school for each player on the roster.

    Coaching Eligibility

    • TSSAA bylaws require coaches to be a credentialed teacher or a retired teacher. Off-campus coaches are acceptable as long as they have school district approval and meet the other requirements established by the state. Schools who want to use off-campus coaches must submit information to the state office each year prior to the beginning of any team activities. Non-teaching school district employees are also eligible to coach, and are treated like off-campus coaches. All volleyball coaching positions must be advertised publicly, and, when a credentialed teacher who is qualified is available, she must be given preference. The coach must take a TSSAA-approved American Sport Education Program Coaches Education Course within two years of taking the job.

    Practice Rules

    • TSSAA rules mandate that students must be enrolled and attending the school with which they are participating to even attend practice sessions. Once an athlete takes part in three workouts with a school's volleyball team, she is not eligible to play with another school's volleyball team that season unless her parents move their place of residence to within the new school's boundaries. That rule also applies to an athlete who practices in an off-season workout program with one school. If she attends three workouts, she can not transfer to another school to play that season unless there is a change of her parents' address.

    Scoring

    • Girls volleyball teams in Tennessee use the rally scoring system and every point that is played results in a point being earned by one of the teams, regardless of which team served the ball. Except for special regular season tournament situations in which both coaches agree, matches are played in the best three-of-five games format. The first four games are played to 25 points, with the winning team needing to hold a two-point advantage. If a team reaches 25 without a two-point advantage, play continues until a team builds a two-point advantage. If a fifth game is needed to decide a match, that game is played to 15 points.