Ciociaro Social Club (Woodbridge/Toronto) – 5 indoor professional (90′) Bocce Courts

ITALIAN VERSION

The Ciociaro Social Club is a non-profit organization founded in 1967. A small group of friends shared a vision of starting a club in the spirit of friendship and unity amongst all the ciociaro people in the Greater Toronto Area. Its purpose was to unite and strengthen the bond of commonality and to foster and spread the wealth of the ciociaro culture.

Over the past 50 years the club has grown thanks to active members committed to those similar ideals. The growth of the club has also expanded the scope of its mandate, to become a community oriented and socially conscious group.  The growth has also been possible because the membership is broad based, made up of people whose origins are from across Ciociaria, not just any specific town or parish.

Our many events, over the last 50 years, have brought us tremendous pleasure and honour. Some of the events include the following;

Sponsorship of local sports teams, including soccer, baseball, hockey,

Organization of ongoing community leagues in both bocce and bowling,

Weekly classes such as Italian language, aerobics, sewing, bocce, etc.

An annual golf tournament with proceeds going to needy children in the community,

Annual social events; dinner dances, holiday picnics, etc.

Miss Ciociaro Club pageants

Our most cherished moments took place in 1980 winning the Ontario Soccer Cup and in 1981 winning the Canadian Amateur Soccer Championship. The bowling and bocce teams have also brought us great honour winning many tournaments and some of our teams have represented Canada in the world stage. In 1987, we had the honour of hosting the Right Honourable Giulio Andreotti, the Prime Minister of Italy at the time, at our club house. He chose to spend some time with us during the visit to Toronto for the G7 Summit Meeting.

These and other events have gone on for many years but had always been restricted due to the limited space available in our club’s leased facilities. In the late 1990’s the membership came to the realization that for the club to provide all the different activities that it wanted to provide and to further their collective goals and vision, a new permanent home would be required. Thus, was born the idea of the “Ciociaria Cultural Centre”.

The membership came together and raised enough of their own money to make their dream a reality. The members purchased over 4 acres of land on Kipling Avenue in Woodbridge. The beginning of the Ciociaria Cultural Centre become a reality and the Ciociaro Social Club matured into the non-profit organization that it always wanted to be.  Today the Ciociaria Cultural Centre (our clubhouse) has been expanded to include a renovated house, which contains our offices and extensive library, and another 11,000 sq. ft building used as a banquet facility and 4 indoor bocce courts. The Centre is a much larger and suitable facility where the membership now enjoy a truly “family style’ atmosphere where they could promote the ideals of fellowship, community service, honesty and the collaboration of the Italo-Canadian cultures.