The next Tim Tebow could come out of Virginia, and legislators in the Old Dominion want to make sure that he doesn’t miss the chance to play football.

The Post reports that a Virginia House committee approved legislation that would allow home-schooled children to play on public school sports teams, much as Tebow did in Florida. Explains the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Under the bill, no public school would be able to become a member of an organization whose purpose is to govern interscholastic programs if it bars participation by home-schooled students who have reported academic progress for two years, are under the age of 19, are amateurs who receive no compensation and who comply with disciplinary and other rules for public high school athletes. The student would only be able to participate in programs at the school serving the attendance zone where they live.

For the home-schooled — there are an estimated 33,000 of them in Virginia — this is great news. But for opponents of the measure, it’s an unfair advantage, seeing as public school students have to stick to a specific academic schedule and can be kicked off of a team if they misbehave they have disciplinary problems in the classroom. According to the Post’s Valerie Strauss, the opposition was significant:

The Virginia Association of School Superintendents is opposed, as is the Virginia Education Association, which represents more than 60,000 public school teachers. Another foe is the chairman of the House Education Committee, a Republican from Virginia Beach named Robert Tata, who was a successful high school coach and a University of Virginia athlete who played briefly for the NFL’s Detroit Lions, the Associated Press reported.

Tata opposes allowing home-schooled students to play on local sports teams in part because he worries that coaches will game the system by recruiting top players. Other opponents say that allowing homeschoolers to play for local teams would devastate eligibility and participation requirements and would be unfair to full-time students and teachers.

The measure moves next to the full House of Delegates, and is supported by Gov. Bob McDonnell.