Dear ,

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and are ready for another exciting season of West Hartford Girls Basketball! As we tip off the 2025–2026 season, I’d like to share several important updates and reminders to help your family prepare for the weeks ahead.

🏀 Practices Begin the Week of December 1st

All team practices officially begin the week of December 1st.

Parents and players should check their team’s home page on the WHGBL website to confirm the exact location, day, and time of their upcoming practices. Each team page will always have the latest, most accurate schedule details, so please check often.

📅 First Games & Season Schedule

• First Games: The season’s opening games will be held on the first Sunday after New Year’s Day.

• Game Locations: 

  • Minors Division: games are played at Conard High School.  Games last for one hour and may begin at 9am, 10am or 11am.

  • Juniors Division: games are played at Sedgwick Middle School.  Games last for one hour and may begin at 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm or 3pm.

  • Seniors Division:  games are played at Conard High School.  Games last for one hour and 10 minutes and may begin at 12:30pm, 1:40pm and 2:50pm.

• Game Schedule Distribution: The full league schedule will be distributed around the middle of December. Thank you for your patience.  We are working on the potential to have exhibition games with the West Hartford Magic travel team, halftime exhibitions with Hall girls, Conard girls and Central Connecticut State University women's basketball, as well as exhibition games with other town recreational leagues.

🎽 Uniform Pickup

Uniforms are expected to arrive during the last week of December.

Coaches will plan to distribute uniforms to their players just before the first game of the season.

📘 Rules Reminder

Going forward, each newsletter will include a “Rules Reminder” section to help keep coaches, players, and parents informed. Here are this week’s highlights:

Minors Division (3rd & 4th Grade) - rules questions should be directed to Doug Packard, treasurer@whgbl.org

• We keep score, but do NOT track wins, losses, or standings.

• At the end of any quarter, if a team leads by more than 20 points, the score resets to 0–0 for both teams.

Juniors Division (5th & 6th Grade) - rules questions should be directed to Craig Tanner, traininganddevelopment@whgbl.org

• A Neutral Zone space extending about 4 feet past the mid-court line, exists when crossing half-court.

  • The ballhandler cannot be defended in this zone.

  • The ballhandler must pass or dribble out of the zone within a referee five-count, or possession is turned over.

  • During a possession, once a player dribbles or passes out of the zone, the zone no longer exists for the rest of that possession.

• Last 1 minute of the game:

  • The clock stops on a change of possession until the ball crosses mid-court.

  • The Neutral Zone rule is suspended during the final minute. Players may be defended as soon as they cross mid-court in the last minute of the game.

Seniors Division (7th & 8th Grade) - rules questions should be directed to Jen Pasion-Blocker, directorofficialsandscheduling@whgbl.org

• During the second half, teams may use:

  • Full-court press, and

  • Zone defense

  • Unless they lead by 15 points or more.

🧠 Coaches Corner

Coaching questions should be directed to either Craig Tanner, traininganddevelopment@whgbl.org, or Ariane Dyson-Ahmed, assistanttraininganddevelopment@whgbl.org. 

This section spotlights important reminders and best practices for our coaches:

• At the first practice, coaches should spend the first 15 minutes meeting with parents.

  • Introduce yourself, share your coaching philosophy, and set clear expectations.

  • Be transparent about communication, emphasize being on time for practices and games, and team culture with respect for teammates including what it means to be a good teammate and player responsibilities to their teammates.

• Coaches should also review and explain the league’s 10 Leadership Core Values, and discuss how they will help players grow both on and off the court.

📄 Final Reminders

• All parents MUST read the “Parents Handbook” on the WHGBL website.

• All coaches MUST read the “Coaches Guidebook” and review the videos in the “Coaches Resources” video section 1, as well as video section 2 before the first practice.

We are incredibly excited to begin another season of teamwork, development, and fun. Thank you for being a part of the WHGBL family—let’s make it a great year!

Shawn Daly                                                                                                           "Teaching leadership skills through the fundamentals of basketball"