Becoming a Member

Membership in the TMSAA is open to any school in Tennessee, both public and non-public, that meets the following criteria:

  1. Terminates with the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade.
  2. Is approved by the State Department of Education, State Department of Education approved agencies (Schools must be in Category 1, 2, or 3), AdvanceEd, and/or Southern Association of Independent Schools.

Schools meeting the above criteria desiring membership in TMSAA should fill out the TMSAA New Member Request Form, print the invoice, and submit the invoice and payment to the TSSAA office. Once the invoice and payment are received, qualified middle schools will be placed in appropriate Areas and Sections and contacted with information on how to proceed. Inquires about TMSAA membership should be directed to membership@tssaa.org.

TSSAA schools that contain grades 6, 7, or 8 on the same campus and under the same administration can join TMSAA at no additional cost, if desired. A school that participates in TSSAA and TMSAA is asked to fill out a membership invoice and contract for both levels of participation each year.

TSSAA and TMSAA member schools must join for all sports the school offers that are sanctioned by TSSAA/TMSAA. For example, a school may not join for basketball only if the school also offers a football program.

Member schools that withdraw their TMSAA membership must be an affiliate member for one year upon application to renew membership. Affiliate membership is defined as having all rights of other member schools but not being allowed to participate in the TMSAA tournament series.

Annual Membership Dues

Membership dues must be paid annually by September 1 and are for the entire school year (July 1 - June 30). There will be a $5.00 per business day late fee for schools that fail to meet this deadline. Membership Invoices are now available in the TSSAA Portal.

Annual membership dues for TMSAA are $300.00, which includes catastrophic insurance coverage. Additional fees apply to football-playing schools and schools using non-faculty coaches.

Submitting your Membership Statement:

  1. Sign-in to the TSSAA Portal using your email address.
  2. From the left side menu, select "Forms" and then "New Form." Select the Membership Statement and follow the instructions to submit your Statement. After the Statement is submitted, links to both the contract and invoice will be shown.
  3. Send a check for payment of membership dues to the TSSAA office by September 1. A printable, itemized invoice showing the total amount due can be found in the Accounting area of the Portal.

Annual Membership Contract

No longer will your school need to send the signed contract to the state office by mail. Instead, submit the signed membership contract (accessible after you submit your Membership Statement) via file upload to the Portal. This must be received with the signature of the head of school (principal) no later than August 1.