March 11, 2025

On Tuesday, March 11th, the West Hartford Girls Basketball League (WHGBL) held their annual Board, Coaches, and Staff Appreciation Dinner Event at The Pond House Cafe in West Hartford.

In league President, Shawn Daly's speech, he outlined the challenges of coaching in the league, but continued the emphasize the importance of carrying out the league's vision prioritizing coaching commitment to league values over simple coaching experience.

He also outlined the league's record year in registrations, despite other towns seeing registration declines. Shawn also continued to emphasize teaching leadership skills through understanding the fundamentals of basketball.

He proudly mentioned how well the board has tackled challenges. The board created safety protocols, enhanced league Bylaws and developed new processes, procedures and guidelines for league operations and sub-committees. The league upgraded player uniforms and increased communication with parents with a new commitment to weekly newsletters.

Shawn also spoke of new videos featuring board member and Training and Development Director Craig Tanner, that helped players see skills training at their own convenience on-line.

He discussed how next year's focus will be managing growth and ensuring sustainability without compromising on quality. Simplifying rules and player development while fostering league parity through more coaching development and gathering of player data will be important, as well as looking at some team sponsorships to gain broader community engagement.

During the evening, board member and the league’s Registrar, Jorge Valdez, was presented with the "President's Award" (formerly the Elmer Jardine, Person of the Year Award) for his character of constantly diving in when he saw issues and fixing them throughout the league.

At the end of the evening, former player, Alice Araya, was presented with a scholarship check for $1,000. Alice's application essay spoke how her experience with the West Hartford Girls Basketball League taught her to have a positive outlook, always support her teammates and have a strong work ethic all while having competitive fun. Anna will be attending Concordia University to play Women's Division II soccer in the fall.

March 14, 2024

On Thursday, March 14th, the West Hartford Girls Basketball League (WHGBL) held their annual Board, Coaches, and Staff Appreciation Dinner Event at The Pond House Cafe in West Hartford. During the event, Shawn Daly, the league’s President, Delivered a “State of the League” address that outlined many of the successes and challenges the league had during the season. He spoke about the growing popularity of the league, including the record number of Juniors Division teams this season, and the Juniors Division team that won the Corpus Christi Middle School, “February Frenzy” basketball tournament. He also spoke about the weather issues and facility issues that cancelled the first week of the season and required changes to the Minors Division playing logistics.

During the evening, board member and the league’s Director of Training & Development, Craig Tanner, was presented with the Elmer Jardine, “Person of the Year” award for his unwavering support of executing the league strategy and value proposition as a teaching league.

At the end of the evening, former player, Anna Sicilliano, was presented with a scholarship check for $1,000. League President, Shawn Daly, spoke about Anna’s application essay and how Anna recognized how the WHGBL had given her the confidence and leadership skills necessary for her to be a successful student. Anna will be a freshman at Yale University in the fall.

March 13, 2024

On Wednesday, March 13th, several members of the West Hartford Girls Basketball League (WHGBL) participated in a basketball clinic delivered by Mark Walker with the On the Court Basketball Academy. Some of the proceeds from the event were provided to the WHGBL.

For access to the full story on We-Ha.com, please click the link below:

https://we-ha.com/on-the-court-basketball-academy-returns-for-2nd-year-with-training-for-west-hartford-youth/

March 10, 2024

March 10, 2024

February 19, 2024

West Hartford Girls Basketball League Juniors Division posing after winning the JV Division Corpus Christi February Frenzy Tournament

West Hartford Girls Basketball Seniors Division poses after competing in the Varsity Division of the Corpus Christi February Frenzy Tournament

The West Hartford Girls Basketball League (WHGBL) entered a Juniors Division Team and a Seniors Division team into the Corpus Christi Middle School’s February Frenzy Basketball Tournament over the President’s Day weekend holiday. The Varsity entry consisted of players from three WHGBL Senior Division teams (the Sparks, Mystics and Dream). The Varsity team played valiantly against some very tough competition. The Junior Varsity (JV) entry consisted of players from two WHGBL Juniors Division teams (Pittsburgh and Georgetown).

The JV team started with a loss to St. Timothy’s Middle School of West Hartford (St. Tim’s) 32-15. However, they recovered quickly with wins against Weathersfield Travel team 22-5, Cromwell Travel team 14-11 and Corpus Christi Middle School of Wethersfield 26-14. This put the WHGBL JV team into the championship game with a rematch against St. Tim’s of West Hartford. This time, the outcome was different with the WHGBL JV team playing tough defense and making great shots to win the championship with a 33-28 victory.

The league is so proud of both the WHGBL Varsity and JV teams and coaches. They teams played very hard and the coaches and players represented West Hartford recreational basketball as great ambassadors.

Congratulations to the JV team players and coaches for winning the Corpus Christi Middle School’s February Frenzy Basketball Tournament!!!

March 12, 2023

March 6, 2022