By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER serving in one of the longest tenures as an executive, Varel Davis won’t be back for another two-year term as president of the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association.

After taking over from Kevin “KJ” Johnson in 2015, Davis served in that capacity for 10 years, turning the GSSSA into one of the most productive sporting bodies in the country.

Having felt that she has done more than expected to get the GSSSA to where it is as a flourishing body in the local landscape of sports, Davis said it’s time to move on.

Plus, she said with her son, Davon Davis - one of the top point guards in basketball and a top triple jumper in high school - getting ready to graduate this year from Queen’s College, she wants to concentrate a little more on his future development.

“After 10 years, I think I’ve served long enough,” said Davis, who also serves as a physical education teacher and coach of the Raptors at CH Reeves where they have been one of the dominant teams in the GSSSA.

“And with this being the last year for my son in high school, I want to be able to focus a little more on him and my family. I want to be able to travel with him as he prepares to get ready for college. It’s hard to do that while serving as the president because it takes so much time away from my family.”

The GSSSA is slated to hold its general meeting at 4pm on Wednesday when a decision will be made on the date, time and venue for the elections. It’s not certain who will be seeking to take over from Davis whenever the election takes place. But the former country’s outstanding national team point guard turned former national junior girls’ basketball coach said the administration of sports in the country calls for a lot of time and sacrifices.

Most times, Davis said it’s a thankless job because people don’t appreciate the effort one puts into it. 

“Our executive team has done a lot of things since I came in as the president,” Davis said. 

“We were able to bring high school back to a top-notch level.

“We provided rings for the first time to the champions in some of our sports, we gave championship t-shirts and we even brought cross country back as well as cheerleading and we finally got baseball to be played in government schools.”

As she reflects on her tenure, Davis got a lot of fans to come out and watch their games and events, so she was really happy about the progress they made. She said it was good.

As she gets ready to step away from the administration of the GSSSA, Davis said she will go without any regrets. 

She thanked all of the executives who served with her and the coaches who supported and even opposed her during her tenure.

Among her executive team members, who served in her final term, were Kendal Campbell, second vice president, Thurment Johnson, third vice president, Fiona Tucker, secretar, Neketa Sears-Knowles, treasurer and Tyrice Curry-Davis, assistant treasurer.

Keisha Pratt-Johnson, who was elected as the first vice president, was moved to the Ministry of Education & Technical & Vocational Training.