Carrollwood Day School has hired Kevin Vargas to run its athletic department, tapping a longtime Tampa administrator who built one of the region’s most decorated programs at the Academy of the Holy Names.
Vargas takes over for the 2026-27 school year, replacing Barry Chamberlin, who is stepping down after four years.
He spent the past 16 years as athletic director at Holy Names, an all-girls Catholic school on Bayshore Boulevard. The Jaguars won four state championships, finished state runner-up five times and claimed 68 district titles in 10 FHSAA sports under his watch.
“Kevin is a proven leader who understands how athletics can shape students not only as competitors, but as people,” Head of School Sara Rubinstein said.
Vargas, a Tampa native and Jesuit High graduate, oversaw 33 middle and high school teams and more than 40 coaches at Holy Names. He helped design a turf softball field and a multipurpose soccer and lacrosse field and worked on plans for a $16.5 million campus expansion that includes a two-story health and wellness center.
Before Holy Names, he was athletic director at Corpus Christi Catholic School in Temple Terrace for four years and at Mary Help of Christians for six. He earned a master’s degree in criminology from the University of Florida.
He arrives as Carrollwood Day pours money into its athletic facilities. The school is returfing the field at the Wagner Athletic Complex on its Bearss Avenue campus and upgrading the stadium seating as part of an Investment in Excellence initiative. About 80% of the school’s Upper School students play sports, competing in 20 varsity programs as the Patriots.
Chamberlin, who led the department for four years, will leave the role at the end of the school year.
“We are incredibly thankful for Barry’s leadership and the foundation he has built for our athletic programs,” Rubinstein said.