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
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 been a board member with the WHGBL for over five years serving as the league's Registrar from 2018 - 2020 and then President from 2020 - present. Shawn has also participated as a coach with the WHGBL from 2009 - 2018, a coach with the West Hartford Girls Soccer League from 2009 - 2018 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 will be sworn in to serve a 3 year term beginning 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, Lincoln Financial Retirement, Prudential Retirement, CIGNA Retirement & Investment Services and PaineWebber (now UBS) throughout his over 30 year career in the financial services industry.
Shawn has been married to his wife Eileen 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 Political Science. 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.
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.
Doug Packard: Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for providing financial statements to the league, managing account receivables and account payables. The Treasurer is also responsible for managing the referees of the Minors and Seniors Divisions. The Treasurer also manages the Seniors Division League Draft.
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.
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.
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.
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 as 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.
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.
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.
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.