Turning the dream of a Goodman Pool swim team into reality resulted from a collaboration of groups and charitable foundations — people who have cared deeply about bringing swimming to an underserved population. It also is the legacy of a Madison girl named Shelley Glover.

A talented skier and former All-City League swimmer at Shorewood, Glover died in 2004 at age 17, after a ski training accident.

Glover had attended Madison’s Midvale and Lincoln elementaries, schools with high percentages of lower-income students, and was always aware of the disparity in athletic opportunities for those kids, said her mother, Carmella.

“Shelley came home in elementary school and said, ‘Mom, I wish all the kids could do these things,’” Carmella Glover said.

After Shelley died, the Shelley Glover Sports Education Foundation was formed to raise money to help make that happen. In the case of the Waves, the group has worked with Madison’s Irwin and Robert Goodman Foundation as well as the Madison Community Foundation and the Foundation for Madison Public Schools.

“It’s a really synergistic group,” said Carmella Glover, who is the Shelley Glover Foundation president. “My daughter envisioned this when she was in third grade, and she’s just smiling down on everybody now.”

Funds pay for scholarships to cover the $180 Waves membership cost for 20 of the team’s 60 or so swimmers. The money also pays for swimsuits, caps, goggles and T-shirts for all swimmers and covers bus transportation for the team to All-City meets away from Goodman.