Watts Chosen As GPS Athletic Director

  • Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Jay Watts
Jay Watts
GPS announced the hiring of Jay Watts as the school’s new Athletic Director and basketball coach. Watts has been an Assistant Athletic Director at Westminster School in Atlanta for 17 years, coordinating the day-to-day operations of the largest high school athletic department in Georgia. Watts is one of only 16 in the state of Georgia to be certified as a master athletic administrator. He is a graduate of the McCallie School and William & Mary and received his masters of science in sports administration from Georgia State University.
 
“Jay is a man of vision and ideas,” said GPS Head of School Dr.
Autumn Graves. “In his first interview with the GPS search committee, he impressed us with his beliefs about the role of athletics in the development of girls and how athletics helps to build community.”
 
Watts has had success coaching several teams at Westminster, including varsity and JV boys and girl basketball. As Westminster’s girls lacrosse coach, he has been the GACA State Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year five times and was selected to coach in US Lacrosse/Champion High School Girls All-American Showcase. He has served on the US Lacrosse Board of Governors and chaired the Girls Lacrosse Rules Committee for the National Federation of State High School Association. His lacrosse teams have won the state championship nine times.
 
"I could not be more excited to become a part of the GPS community and further its efforts to develop the very best athletic program for girls. GPS has a long-standing tradition of providing its students with an educational experience in the classroom that is second to none, and our athletic program will reflect those same high standards," said Watts.
 
"This is somewhat of a homecoming for me, and I look forward to being back in Chattanooga with my wife and daughter. My very first coaching job was a volunteer position at the Henry Branch YMCA while I was a student at McCallie. That experience coaching youth basketball sparked a personal journey that has taken me as far away as Prague in the Czech Republic to be a part of a Women’s Lacrosse World Cup,” said Watts. "I think sports have a unique way of teaching you things about yourself whether you are an athlete or a coach, and I am energized by the opportunity to compete at a high level with the basketball program at GPS. Basketball is truly a team sport where every player can have a significant impact on the team's success,” he added.
 
Dr. Graves said, “I am very appreciative of GPS cross country and track coach Jeff Gaither for serving as our interim athletic director while the school conducted a national search. He was instrumental in providing our spring coaches and athletes with a positive experience during this transition.”
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