TRUMBULL—When Jeffrey Dobrydney’s daughter started getting serious about the sport of softball, he did what any good parent would do.
He did his due diligence and sought out the best place for her to play.
When that didn’t work out as he had hoped, he instead started his own program, the CT Timberwolves.
As the Trumbull-based program heads into its fifth season, the Timberwolves are now focusing on giving its players not just the best coaches available to teach the game and the life lessons that go with it, but the best role models, as well.
As such, the 2025-26 CT Timberwolves will feature a totally female coaching staff for all of its 12U and above programs.
“Travel softball is not just about winning games, right?” said Jacqui Sheftz, the Timberwolves Director of Player Development and varsity softball coach at Trumbull High School. “We want these girls to be better prepared for their future endeavors, whether it’s college, whether it’s high school, whatever their dreams. We’re here to help facilitate that. But it’s also about building strong and confident women who believe that they belong in every part of the game, now and in the future and just in life in general. I mean, just watching these girls’ confidence grow over the past three years that we’ve done this is just astronomical.”
Giving their players a female voice in practices and games is something important to everybody in the program, including Dobrydney, who started coaching his daughter’s team when he founded the Timberwolves.
“When I spoke to the girls, it was all peaches and cream at 10, 11 and 12,” Dobrydney said. “And then after 12 years old, I realized the need. I realized the need for a female presence in the dugout; at least somebody that had been out there and felt what it was like to be 12 years old in cleats on a softball field and not have a guy screaming at you.”
After Dobyrdney hired Sheftz for the role of Director of Player Development, the first thing she did was fire him as a coach.
“I just reached out to him one day and I liked what he was doing,” Sheftz said. “I liked his energy, I liked his positivity. He was like, ‘Let’s join together.’ The first thing I did was fire Jeff as the coach. He was a dad.”
Sheftz is not necessarily against “daddy ball” as it has been coined, but as a female who has been in the game a long time she has seen the impact a female coach can have when leading a team of younger females.
“I just said, look, we’re going to go an all-female route,” Sheftz said. “We want these young women, all quality coaches, giving the skills and teaching the skills to our young ladies right off the bat, rather than the daddy ball. And it’s nothing against dads, it’s nothing against moms that coach their kids. But another dynamic does take place when you involve parents in youth sports, right?”
While Dobyrdney remains as president of the Timberwolves organization, the staff is entirely professional female coaches.
Here’s the lineup, along with a brief bio of each coach courtesy of the CT Timberwolves:
• Jen Russell, All-State softball player at St Joseph and former Sacred Heart University pitcher; Director of pitching for the Timberwolves organization. HC U14 Timberwolves 2024-2025. Local private softball instructor for decades. Occupation: Educator of mathematics at Jonathan Law HS.
• Maura Carbone, daughter of SCC director Al Carbone; 2023 Trumbull High graduate, three-year HS starter (Covid first year no softball). Her team just won the last two tourneys to end the summer as she was the HC of U14 Timberwolves for those two tournaments. Currently attends Boston College, majoring in elementary education.
• Alyssa Pagano, former All-State player for Sheftz at Masuk, graduating in 2008. She was a four-year starter at Southern Connecticut State University, as well. Licensed SW at Post University. Social/emotional liaison for the Timberwolves organization. Varsity assistant coach at Trumbull High softball.
• Kylie Lucia rising senior at Trumbull and Quinnipiac University softball commit. All-FCIAC OF. Timberwolves outfield consultant, assistant game coach multiple levels within organization. Private lessons coach at a Norwalk facility.
• Maren Jones, rising senior at Trumbull, Albertas Magnus College softball commit for former Fairfield Ludlowe coach Lou Bunosso. All-FCIAC infielder and Timberwolves infielder consultant, assistant game coach multiple levels. Local private lessons coach.
Another coach, who is a varsity softball coach here in Connecticut, will be announced in August. She is currently coaching another travel program and Sheftz said the Timberwolves want her to finish out her commitment to that program and its players before making an announcement.
“I just felt like representation matters. When girls see women leading, they believe they could lead too,” Sheftz said. “Having female coaches show young athletes that they belong not just on the field, but in front of teams. The female mentors understand the unique challenges of girls in sports, the confidence dips and the social pressures. Female coaches can guide with empathy and real life experience. I mean, they laced up those cleats too, and I think that’s huge.”
While the Timberwolves are Trumbull-based, the program is open to any and all players who would like to try out for the program.
Tryouts for the program are as follows:
“At the end of the day, female coaches can create and encourage a relatable environment where girls feel safe to fail, grow and improve,” Sheftz said. “And that’s really what this organization is about. And that’s why we went in the direction that we did.”
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