Click the play button on the video to see some highlights from the presentation, which took place at the beginning of the Aldermen’s monthly meeting.
Lauretti began the presentation by noting that in 1976, while he was trying to get playing time on Ohio University’s basketball team, the women gathered at City Hall Thursday were “making history in our city.”
After the ceremony, Bernice Nicolari, the team’s head coach from 1962 to 1979, said that her 1976 team took home the state title thanks to good players who had work ethics to match their talents.
That was important in a time when female athletes didn’t receive the same treatment as males did, Nicolari said.
She had been coaching the team for a decade when Title IX became federal law in 1972, mandating gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding.
But as Nicolari recalled, gender equity didn’t happen overnight, even after the law’s passage.
“Don’t let anybody tell you it was easy,” Nicolari said of female sports in the 1970s.
She said she “deeply appreciated” Lauretti and the Aldermen for honoring the team Thursday.
One of the team’s co-captains, Karen Meade-Bentlage, also thanked Lauretti and the Aldermen, saying during the ceremony that “it’s really amazing that it’s 40 years ago that this happened.”
“We were five,” joked Michele Katz, another co-captain.
“We still talk about it today,” Meade-Bentlage said. “It’s a memory that we cherish and still influences us as we all keep in contact.”
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The proclamation read by Lauretti Thursday reads as follows:
WHEREAS, in 1976 Michele Katz, Karen Meade and Jill Rhodes were tri-captains of the Shelton High School Gaelettes’ basketball team along with teammates Diane Dietman and Michele LeBlanc. They won the 1976 CIAC Class Double L State Championship under Head Coach Bernice Nicolari and Assistant Coach Celeste Beattie; and
WHEREAS, the points scored per game by each player were as follows: Jill Rhodes – 27.2, Michele Katz – 15.2, Karen Meade – 13.8, Diane Dietman – 13.4, and Michele LeBlanc – 8.2 Jill Rhodes was named Connecticut All-State First Team two years in a row, High School All-American, All-League, and All-Valley First Teams three years in a row; and
WHEREAS, Bernice Nicolari was named 1976 Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year; Bernice was also named Hall of Fame Honoree for Connecticut Women’s Basketball, New Haven Tap-Off Club and Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association; and
WHEREAS, the team earned the state championship with their victory over Lee High School of New Haven. This was the first state basketball championship won by any Shelton Gaelettes’ basketball team. Their record for the year was 23 wins and 1 loss. In the same year the team earned for the eighth straight season the Housatonic League Championship with an undefeated season.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Mark A. Lauretti, Mayor of Shelton, commmend these women for their many accomplishments. They were pioneers for women’s sports and helped to lead the way for future women athletes in Shelton. On this 40th anniversary, I congratulate them on their hard work, commitment and dedication to achieve the 1976 CIAC Double L State Championship.
