BATON ROUGE — Louisiana lawmakers summoned Louisiana High School Athletic Association executives to the Capitol on Tuesday to raise concerns about a range of topics, including revenue and transfer and eligibility rules. 

State legislators on the newly formed special legislative study committee on the LHSAA were vocal about their worries regarding the state of Louisiana high school sports in the nearly four-hour meeting. They spoke with multiple executives, including executive director Eddie Bonine, assistant executive directors Karen Hoyt and Michael Frederico.

The most prominent topic of discussion was the issue of transfer and eligibility rules, with many of the committee members advocating for a one-time transfer window for student-athletes. LHSAA executives worried that such a rule would open up too many negative possibilities. 

Legislators also voiced their concerns with a recently adopted rule that allows the LHSAA to suspend member schools that pursue legal action against it, regardless of who wins the lawsuit. Several lawmakers were extremely critical of the rule, alleging that its purpose is to intimidate schools away from suing.

LHSAA executives defended the rule, firstly by pointing out that member schools voted for it. They also argued that it is meant to punish schools that file "frivolous" lawsuits over things like player eligibility in order to slow or delay the playoff process.

Rep. Bryan Fontenot brought up the incident in which University High got into a legal battle with the LHSAA in 2024, alleging that the school was attempting to disrupt the playoffs due to an unfavorable eligibility issue. He said he understands the need for the rule, as those legal proceedings could have cost playoff schools a lot of money, but thinks it should only allow punishment for schools that lose such lawsuits. 

Rep. Tehmi Chassion was extremely critical of the LHSAA, particularly the way it handles eligibility cases. Chaisson cited the case of former LSU receiver and now NFL star Malik Nabers, who was deemed ineligible to play his senior year at Southside after his transfer waiver was denied. Chaisson said that he, regardless of support, will propose and pursue the creation of a new association.

Lawmakers also brought up concerns with how the LHSAA shares revenue with schools, especially from state championship games. Some on the committee felt that the organization does not share enough of its profits with membership schools.

"The amount of money that's not going back to the kids, for instance, if no one attends the Top 28, no one makes money, but the participating teams are bringing the participating fans," Chaisson said. "So, inevitably, LHSAA is making money off of the name, image and likeness of the individual school that is there at the Top 28. I would believe a lion's share of the money would wind up going to the participating schools."

The committee will meet again on Nov. 12 and Dec. 8 before reporting back to the House and Senate Education Committees in February.