Reese to Leave Northwest Athletic Director's Post

Josh Reese and were mighty hard to separate.

Reese graduated from Northwest, played power forward for the Northwest basketball team, coached at Northwest, and for the last five years, he’s been the athletic director at Northwest.

But separation is now imminent. Reese has announced that he will be leaving the school’s athletic director post to accept an opportunity with a basketball-oriented sports marketing agency.

“It was very hard,” said Reese, a New Britain native who now lives in East Hartford. “It took a lot of time, a lot of prayer and a lot of review with my wife. I transferred into Northwest Catholic when I was 16 so that kind of gives you the lay of the land.”

Reese, 34, administered his duties at Northwest with a passion, a sincerity and an integrity that was tangible to the people who worked with him.

“I’ve known him since he was 17, literally half his life, and he’s a fun-loving, very intense kind of guy who loves his school, his friends, and certainly his athletics, basketball being his favorite,” said Margaret R. Williamson, Northwest Catholic principal.

“We certainly wish him the best. Both he and his wife [Amanda] have been connected with our community for a long time. You only want the best for somebody like Josh.”

Reese became very engaged with the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which administers scholastic sports in the state, and the Connecticut Association of Athletic Directors (CAAD). He said his involvement was mutually beneficial.

“It’s great the way the CIAC brought me along so quickly,” Reese said. “[Coaching Education Program Director Fred] Balsamo, [Director of Information Services Matt] Fischer, [Director of CIAC Officials Administration Joe] Tonelli. They’re all aces, people I trusted who showed me how to do things the right way. They threw me right in.”

Reese served on the CIAC’s Michaels Cup committee, represented the defunct Northwest Conference, and represents a CAAD District 4, in trying "to do something for athletic directors at the state level.”

Reese worked together well with the Northwest Catholic coaches, predominantly boys basketball coach John Mirabello. He played for Mirabello from 1992-95 and has served as his assistant since returning to the school as a social studies teacher and administrator.

“It will be hard to leave the Northwest community and the friends I’ve made over the years,” Reese said. “I’ve gotten the chance to hang out with irreplaceable people and I’ve had great bosses like Margie Williamson and [previous AD] John Shukie. They made me an athletic director at age 29.

“This was a hard decision.”

Williamson said she will fill the post on an interim basis, probably from within the Northwest Catholic community, before undertaking a search for a new athletic director.

"There’s a learning curve when you have somebody step in to the athletic director's role so we'll do what we can to minimize workload on an interim basis," Williamson said. "If its someone who knows the community, so much the better."