Students have scored one of the most qualified athletic directors Palo Alto High School has ever seen.
Scott Davis, the new athletic director at Paly, joined this school year following the resignation of former athletic director Jennifer Crane, who moved to Fletcher Middle School.
Having coached softball, soccer, baseball, football and basketball, Davis knows the ins-and-outs of almost every sport. Knowing how to coach multiple sports is useful, but years of experience in high school administration and college sports will set Davis up for success at Paly.
Davis’ extensive background working in high school athletics has helped prepare him for any problem that could arise. In Marin, he was the league commissioner for the Vine Valley Athletic League, the high school athletic league of Marin. Not only was he in charge of seven athletic directors, but he also juggled communication with seven principals, ran all sporting schedules and coordinated championship matches.
Prior to working as league commissioner, Davis held a successful career as a college basketball coach at Saint Mary’s College of California for 17 years.
“I ended up getting hired as an assistant at a community college to coach basketball,” Davis said. “Then a couple years later, I was the youngest junior college coach in the state.”
Part of being a successful college basketball coach is constantly traveling for away games. This proved to be a double-edged sword for Davis. Even though Davis gained fond memories of beating Stanford in the first game of the year and hearing the coach scold the Stanford team for 45 minutes, he sacrificed time with his family to be there.
“My wife went into labor with our daughter, and I was on a road trip,” Davis said. “I’m like, ‘What am I doing?’”
This was a pivotal moment in Davis’ career, which drove him to explore new opportunities in sports.
As the athletic director, Davis has ambitious goals for the upcoming school year. First, he has improvements planned for a growing sport at Paly: girls’ flag football.
“Next year, we’re probably having a JV [junior varsity] team as well, just because the numbers are so good and most of the team is really young,” Davis said.
One issue with only having a varsity team is that players with lower skill sets do not get as much playing time. Implementing this team would place these students at the top of the JV roster. Another goal is to install a camera on the El Camino field to film recordings for players to use in sports recruitment and broadcast games for parents who are absent.
“If parents can’t come, or grandparents want to see the game, they can watch it online,” Davis said. “That’s something that the lacrosse coaches are talking about right now.”
Secondly, he’s focused on the importance of community.
“[A goal of mine is] to try and get as many students out to games as possible,” Davis said. “I think that makes sure your overall four years here are more enjoyable because you’re connected to something, even if you’re not the ones on the field or court.”