Gerald Gilberti is one of the most recognizable athletes and officials in the Utica area and has been since 1945.

At Utica Free Academy Gilberti had an amazing athletic career where he lettered in football, baseball, basketball and swimming. He was a guard on the famed 1947-1948 undefeated basketball team that won all 16 games on its way to the City, Central Oneida League and Section III titles. He was a fullback for the football team that year, and helped lead the team to an undefeated season, outs coring their opponents 107-39. As an outfielder on the school baseball team, Gilberti and his brothers, Allen and Don, led there team to a one-loss season.

Gilberti went to Cortland State Teachers College and earned letters in soccer, lacrosse and swimming there. "Uncle Sam" called in the middle of his junior year, and he served a nearly-two year stint in the Korean Conflict. After the war, Gilberti finished college and began his teaching and coaching careers at Baldwinsville Academy in Baldwinsville, NY. In 1956, he started teaching at Kernan Elementary School, his alma mater, and became one of the most successful coaches in the area.

From 1956-1987 at Potter Street School, Kernan Elementary School and Utica Free Academy, Gilberti coached softball, baseball, basketball, and soccer. He coached at every level and won dozens of city and league championships. When not coaching, he was officiating basketball games, soccer matches and softball games.

Highly involved in numerous scholastic athletic organizations, he is a Charter Member of the Mohawk Valley Boys and Girls Soccer Association and a member of the New York State Girls Basketball Association. Section III honored him in 2003 for a lifetime of service.

In the community, athletics permeated his volunteer service. From 1948- 1987, Gilberti was highly involved in Summer camp athletics for the YMCA's Camp Triangle, the Boys Club Summer Camp, the City of Utica Summer Recreation Department, and the Oneida County Summer Ice Skating Program. Over time, his roles changed but number one in all of his work were the area's children.

One of Gilberti's former players from Kernan's baseball team, Dave Cash, went on to a spectacular career in Major League Baseball. Cash, an inaugural class member of the Hall of Fame is wisely considered the finest athlete to ever come out of Utica. Without a doubt, Gilberti's early cultivation of that talent helped make Cash the star he became.

Allen Gilberti, Gerald's brother and a 1997 inductee into the Hall of Fame himself, said, "Jerry was a better basketball player than I was. He had a deadly set shot, a shot that was used before the jump shot, and moved the ball on the court well. He was a great passer and team player in a team-centered sport."