Middle Tennessee State University will continue its long-running and successful run of hosting state championships for select high school sports at its facilities following a recent decision by the TSSAA.

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s Board of Control voted Jan. 12 at its meeting in Hermitage, Tennessee, to extend its contract with the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce to host the “Spring Fling” championships through 2021.

Chris Massaro

Spring Fling is the series of championship competitions featuring the TSSAA five spring sports: track and field, baseball, boys’ soccer, softball, and tennis.

MTSU partners with the chamber to host the track and field events at the Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium while also serving as the site for the baseball championships at Reese-Smith Field.

The TSSAA Board also voted to extend the contract with the chamber to host the Division I Girls’ and Boys’ State Basketball Championships through 2021. The tournaments are held each March inside MTSU’s Murphy Center; this year’s events are set March 8-11 and March 15-18, respectively.

“We are proud to host these championship events at Middle Tennessee,” said MTSU Director of Athletics Chris Massaro. “It’s one of the most important events in these young students’ lives and we are thrilled to help provide that experience.

“Anytime we can bring high school students to our campus, it benefits the entire university and our community.”

The Chamber of Commerce has estimated Spring Fling brings in about $3.5 million in tourism dollars to the local economy by drawing thousands of visitors from throughout the region each year. Each of the four-day TSSAA high school basketball tournaments generates similar tourism revenue for Rutherford County.

For more information about the TSSAA tournaments, visit http://tssaa.org.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)