WHGBL Executive Team
The West Hartford Girl’s Basketball League is managed by an executive board who volunteers time and energy to organize and run the league so that basketball play is available to the girls in West Hartford.
Shown from left to right are board members Craig Tanner, Ariane Dyson-Ahmed, Doug Packard, Joe DeLutrie, John Demitrus, Jorge Valdez, Bonnie McFarland, Rick Araya, Shawn Daly, Eileen Daly and Jessica Seifel (not pictured, James Bargon)
The West Hartford Girl’s Basketball League is managed by an executive board who volunteers time and energy to organize and run the league so that basketball play is available to the girls in West Hartford.
Shawn Daly: President
The role of the President is to lead the organization in all matters including developing strategies for growth, creating agendas and presiding over board meetings. The President also represents the league with the West Hartford All Sports Council.
Shawn has lived in West Hartford for over 50 years attending Duffy Elementary School, Sedgwick Junior High/Middle School and Conard High School graduating in 1984. He went on to graduate from the University of Connecticut in 1990 with a BA in English and later, earned his MBA in Managing in the Global Economy from Excelsior University in Albany, New York in 2010.
He has been a board member with the West Hartford Girls Basketball League (WHGBL) for over six years serving as the league's Registrar from 2019 - 2020 and then President from 2020 - present. Shawn has also participated as a coach with the WHGBL from 2013 - 2019, a coach with the West Hartford Girls Soccer League (WHGSL) from 2013 - 2019 and was a coach with West Hartford Alumni Baseball from 1988 - 1993.
Shawn has also served the Town of West Hartford and the State of Connecticut in several other philanthropic capacities. He was a Board member and Juniors Division Supervisor for the West Hartford Girls Soccer League (WHGSL) from 2016 - 2019. He was a Board Member of the Greater Hartford Jaycees Chapter and Foundation from 2001 - 2007, a member of the Travelers Championship (a PGA Tour event) Tournament Executive Committee from 2003 - 2022, a member of the St. Thomas the Apostle Church Parish Council from 2016 - 2017 and served as a member of the Town of West Hartford Conservation and Environment Commission from 2020 - 2023. Shawn is a member of the West Hartford Republican Town Committee and served as it's Treasurer from 2019 - 2021 and is the current Chairman of the organization since 2021. Shawn also serves as a Fourth Degree Knight for the Knights of Columbus since 2020. In December, 2023, Shawn was approved by the West Hartford Town Council to be appointed to the Town of West Hartford Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and began serving a 3 year term in January, 2024.
Shawn is currently employed by MML Investors Services, LLC (a wholly owned broker-dealer/Registered Investment Advisory organization of MassMutual) as Head of Group Retirement Experience and Product Management. Shawn has been with the organization since 2019. Prior to working for MassMutual, he worked in various capacities for AIG Retirement (formerly known as VALIC, now known as Corebridge Financial), Lincoln Financial Retirement, Prudential Retirement (now Empower Retirement), CIGNA Retirement & Investment Services (acquired by Prudential Retirement in 2004) and PaineWebber (now UBS) throughout his over 30 year career in the financial services industry.
Shawn has been married to his wife Eileen (who is currently the league’s Assistant Secretary) for over 25 years and they have a daughter Shannon who currently attends the University of Delaware as a student with a major in Marine Biology and minor in Public Policy. His daughter Shannon played in the WHGBL and the WHGSL and was a Captain of the Hall High School Girls Basketball Team for her Senior year (2022 - 2023).
Joe DeLutrie: Vice-President
The Vice-President is responsible for serving all duties of the President in the event the President is unable to perform those duties. This Vice-President also handles managing the league scorers and timing officials.
Joe DeLutrie joined the league in 2005 when he began coaching his daughter. He enjoys volunteering and is a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor. He also coached his daughter in the West Hartford Girls Softball League, and he coached both of his sons in the West Hartford Youth Baseball League and West Hartford Youth Basketball League (WHYBL). Joe has a passion for basketball and baseball, and he played college basketball at the UConn West Hartford campus. Joe still coaches in the WHYBL, and you may also see him around town umpiring youth baseball games or refereeing youth flag football games.
Doug Packard: Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining, organizing and reporting financial operations of the League to the Board of Directors and the All Sports Council as needed. The financial operations include recording all transactions in the league’s checking account, documentation retention and recording revenues and paying expenses. Reporting includes current bank account balances at Board meetings, development of the annual budget and producing both financial statement and tax information for the Board and for purposes of the West Hartford All Sports Council.
Doug is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Business in Accounting. He has been a Certified Public Accountant in various roles in the financial services industry since 1983. His wife Lisa (also a UConn graduate) is a nurse at St. Francis Hospital. All three of their children graduated from Conard High School and participated in multiple West Hartford youth sports as well as varsity level sports at Conard. All three of their children are also proud graduates of UConn. “We bleed Husky blue!”
Doug and Lisa moved to West Hartford in 1984 and never left. He has been a coach in the soccer, softball, baseball and basketball youth leagues of West Hartford for many years. He is currently an active member of CCSOA (high school soccer officials) and former member of the high school basketball official’s organization of central CT.
Doug has been involved with the West Hartford Girl’s Basketball League for over 30 years. He started as a coach with his 4th grade daughter, been a past president and is currently the Treasurer. He also function as Head of Officials for the Seniors and Minors Divisions. You will still see him officiating a few games during the season, especially the Minors Division league games.
He may have a lot less hair now than when he started but no less enthusiasm for the game of basketball and the young players he is entrusted to coach!
Bonnie McFarland: Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for managing and the maintenance of all documents and records (paper or digital) required for the operations of the league including taking meeting minutes.
Bonnie McFarland is a new member to the WHGBL board and is serving as the league secretary. She also serves as the community outreach chair for the Sustainability Employee Action Group at Pratt & Whitney, where she is a senior principal engineer. Bonnie has a doctorate in materials science and engineering and a bachelors of science in chemical engineering. She and her spouse of 18 years have a daughter who has been in the league from minors now up to juniors.
John Demitrus: Director, Public Relations
The role of the Public Relations Director is to promote the interests of the league, and communicate information about the league to the general public. In addition, this role is responsible for developing and maintaining all advertising including development and maintenance of the league’s website and social media outlets.
John Demitrus joined the WHGBL board in 2023. John lives in West Hartford and has four adult children who were active in a range of sports, he coached Windsor Lacrosse and spent two years on the board of the Mirage FastPitch Softball League.
John Demitrus heads up digital strategy for Oh Ya Marketing. John's commitment to helping others is one of his greatest strengths, not only within WHGBL but within his community as well.
Jorge Valdez: Registrar
The Registrar is responsible for maintaining our LeagueApps registration system for the league. The Registrar is also responsible for assigning players to teams in the Minors and Juniors Division and updating the league scores and standings during the season. The Registrar also acts as the Minors Division Coordinator for the league.
James Bargon: Assistant Registrar
James Bargon joins the West Hartford Girls Basketball League following a long-time association with the Wilton (CT) Basketball Association, where he was board member for 6 years and a volunteer travel basketball coach for 16 seasons. Last season James coached his granddaughter in the Minors Division.
James and his wife recently relocated to Hartford’s West End to be closer to their daughter, son-in-law, and 3 granddaughters. James is the owner of a medical communications agency.
Craig Tanner: Training and Development Director
The responsibility of this role is to develop, update and maintain the basketball skills for players and coaches in the league. This role also develops and manages the leauge’s basketball clinics provided for players and coaches during the season. This role also acts as the Head Referee for the Juniors Division and manages all referee officials in the Juniors Division. This role also manages the Seniors Division New Player’s Assessment done at the beginning of each season.
Craig Tanner served as the Varsity Girls Basketball Coach at Northwest Catholic from 1985 to 2007. During his tenure, he achieved three state championships and made eight appearances in championship games. His career coaching record stands at 439-123.
In 1999, he was chosen as the State of CT High School Girls Basketball Coach of the Year. In 2013, he was honored with induction into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
He had a career as a Middle School Athletic Director and PE teacher for 40 years, coaching Varsity High School Soccer for 12 years and Middle School softball for 26 years.
Ariane Dyson Ahmed: Assistant Director, Training and Development
This role supports the Training and Development Director in all aspects of the role including acting assisting in providing league basketball clinics and helping provide teams, coaches and players with individual skill enhancement when appropriate.
Ariane has a passion for girls basketball and believes in the league’s mission to teach leadership skills through learning and understanding the fundamentals of basketball. She seeks to help players make lifelong friends.
Ariane is in her third year with the WHGBL and is excited to see ladies improve and having fun while playing basketball. She is a former junior college, DIII player competing at the college level in Seki, Japan. She has a masters in secondary education and enjoys working with young minds. She has been a coach in basketball since college.
Ariane has a son who plays basketball and baseball for leagues in West Hartford. Her son enjoys attending the girls games and mom and son often attend local games together.
Jessica Seifel: Director, Parent Perspective
This role is responsible for soliciting feedback from players and their parents/guardians to gain valuable information that can help improve the league and its operations.
Jessica has taught K-12 music in public schools and has private piano lessons in her studio for students of all ages and abilities. She has been a soccer, basketball and swim team coach in levels from recreations through high school junior varsity teams.
Jessica enjoys cultivating growth whether through teaching, coaching or gardening. She loves guiding youths to realize their full potential and helping them teach what they have learned in service to others.
She is mother to a senior at Conard High School, a freshman at Loomis-Chaffee and a fifth grader at Braeburn Elementary School. She enjoys getting to know her fellow neighbors at town sports games, the high school musicals and school concerts.
You will find Jessica in the stands at WHGBL games talking with parents to learn how the league can improve and best serve the WHGBL players!
Non-Voting, Appointed Board Members
Eileen Daly: Assistant Secretary
The Assistant Secretary serves as the backup to the league Secretary and is responsible for assisting and stepping in for the league Secretary when the league Secretary is unable to perform their duties.
Eileen Daly gained Board experience as Secretary and Assistant Treasurer and is a long-time member of the Junior League of Hartford. She used this experience when she came to the WHGBL Board to fill in for the vacated Secretary post in 2021. Eileen moved into the Assistant Secretary role for the WHGBL in 2023. Eileen is married to Shawn Daly (the league President) and they have a daughter, Shannon who attended St. Thomas the Apostle Pre-K School, Morley Elementary School, King Philip Middle School and Hall High School.
Rick Araya: Equipment Director
The Equipment Director is in charge of ordering, tracking and maintaining all equipment for the league. This role is also responsible for selecting vendors and ordering and managing league uniform distribution. This role also assists with training and development responsibilities of the league.
Rick Araya coached 16 teams in the West Hartford Girls Basketball League for his three daughters. He coached AAU Basketball for 5 years, and soccer in the rec and travel leagues for over 20 teams. Rick was a solid high school basketball player but never reached his goal of playing basketball in college although he represented his Chiropractic College in the National Chiropractic Olympics and the California Games.
Dr Rick is a local chiropractor for 22 years and an active member of the community in various roles and St. Peter Claver Parish. He is most proud of his daughters, Katia, Grace and Alice and indebted to his wife, Melanie for her patience with his community service.