Cortland YWCA Celebrates Creation of Bertini Pool Legacy Fund – Senator Webb Presents Proclamation

On Friday afternoon, the YWCA of Cortland and Catherine Bertini held a special event to honor the legacy of Catherine Bertini’s parents, Fulvio and Ann Bertini. Both Fulvio and Ann were a driving force in the creation of the first competitive girls swim team in Cortland back in 1962 at the YWCA. The event was held at the YWCA’s multi-purpose room.

The creation of the girls swim team, named the Dolphins, was to help develop young women in mind and body and also teach them the spirit of wholesome competition. The movement to create a competitive girls swim team though had its fair share of controversy at the time. The Bertini’s utilized the YWCA’s swimming pool for the Dolphins. During the event, YWCA Executive Director Kelly Tobin spoke on the dwindling number of swimming pools at YWCA facilities across the state. She then added that the Cortland YWCA is now the last YWCA in New York State to have a swimming pool. The decline in the number of swimming pools at YWCA facility fell onto one main issue, cost.

The creation of the Bertini Pool Legacy Fund is to ensure that the Cortland YWCA swimming pool remains open for all with funds raised helping cover the cost for any maintenance or renovations that may be needed in the future.

Friday’s event hosted many supporters of the Dolphins, with past swim team members sharing their memories and the impact the swim team has had on their life. Sophie Clough from the Cortland County Historical Society Collections and Research Assistant also provided the history of the swim team including its controversy in its formation and how it set a new precedent in girls athletics for Cortland.

Catherine Bertini says this idea of creating a legacy fund has been a “bucket list” of hers. She expressed her thanks to Tobin and the staff at the YWCA in assisting in the creation.

“It’s a bucket list to recognize my parents for what I consider a most significant achievement. Fulvio and Ann Bertini were the greatest generation parents, having four Boomer babies from 1950 to 1961 and they taught us a lot, as all parents do, but most appropriately I think for this occasion, they taught us to follow our passions.” Bertini said.

She continued on to say her parents taught her and her siblings to think outside the box, to respect the system, but to question it and not to accept the status-quo. Her parents also taught them to be competitive, standby principal, and to always to reach outside their comfort zone to help others through talking and by example. Bertini said her brothers were signed up for the swim team at the YMCA when her parents then questioned why there was not a girls swim team, adding that it was not “lady like” for girls to compete back at the time.

“It’s my great honor, to honor Fulvio and Ann Bertini for having had the foresight and the guts to say we need to do this, we’re thinking outside the box, we’re not going to take no for an answer, we’re not going to take inaction for an answer. We want to stand under principal that girls as well as boys deserve the opportunity to be competitive and we want to offer that opportunity in our community.” Bertini said.

Following Catherine Bertini’s speech on why she wanted to leave a legacy and honor her parents, New York State Senator Lea Webb spoke. Senator Webb highlighted again the importance of allowing young women the opportunity to compete and to break down barriers. Webb said she was honored to be a part of the ceremony to celebrate the Bertini’s hard work, especially being done 10 years before title 9 became law. Title 9 prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal funding. This law went into effect in 1972. She then read a proclamation from the State Senate recognizing both Fulvio and Ann Bertini’s work in the creation of the girls swim team, the Dolphins, highlighting their hard work in recognizing girls deserve the same opportunities as boys and chose to act before waiting for legislation.

You can learn more about the Bertini Pool Legacy Fund and how to contribute at CortlandYWCA.org.