The Allderdice girls basketball team opened practice Monday with a new coach for the first time in more than three decades.
Janet Davis, who had 445 career victories at Allderdice, is out as coach after 33 seasons.
Leaving the team wasn't Davis' decision.
"I have some good coaching years left in me," she said. "I'd coach for nothing. I just love it."
Davis retired last spring as head of the Health and Physical Education Department at Allderdice. In a situation such as that, Pittsburgh Public Schools is forced to open up any extracurricular jobs the employee also holds.
"The bottom line is that when you retire from any full-time position within the district, you retire from all extracurricular activities," said Mike Gavlik, the director of interscholastic athletics for the district.
Even though she retired, Davis was permitted to reapply for the coaching position, but the district also opened it to other applicants.
Meanwhile, Davis oversaw spring and fall conditioning and coached Allderdice in several preseason leagues.
"For all intents and purposes, I was the coach," Davis said. "The board posted the job in September after school began. They didn't begin interviews until several weeks after that."
In the end, Dave Walchesky, previously an assistant girls basketball and softball coach at Carrick, was named the new coach at Allderdice. He also will be the head softball coach at the school.
Davis and her supporters are puzzled that she wasn't retained. They want answers, and so far, they have none.
"It's been an inordinate runaround," said Joan Bezner, mother of Allderdice sophomore guard Anna Bezner. "Everyone's decided to stonewall us. Not getting an answer and not having all of the facts has been very problematic."
What can't be disputed is Davis' success as a coach.
After graduating from Fox Chapel, where she was a starter on the basketball team, Davis continued her playing career at Pitt, where she earned graduate degrees in physical education and counseling.
When she left Pitt, Davis began teaching in Pittsburgh Public Schools at Herron Hill. And when Herron Hill closed for remodeling, Davis moved to Allderdice.
Before her arrival, there was no girls basketball for high school students in the City League. Davis changed that. She coached Allderdice in the inaugural season of City League girls basketball in 1973.
"We were able to go out and initiate it," Davis said. "We were ahead of our time."
Davis wants to resume her coaching career at some level. But Bezner said she can't understand why Davis won't be coaching at Allderdice, especially when she has offered to coach for no salary.
"The district could keep the money or put it into the program," Bezner said. "Janet feels that strongly about the program. She is a basketball coach. She is a teacher.
"When something is not broken, there is no need to fix it."
