Photograph of Italian boys softball team, Ottawa, 1939

Photograph of Italian boys softball team, Ottawa, 1939. Gino Tiezzi at far right was the manager. On June 10, 1940 he was arrested and interned as a threat to the Canadian state.

Gino's sons were junior members of the team, acting as bat boys. Silvio and Italo Tiezzi are standing in the front.

According to his son Italo, his father did work with the Italian Consulate in Ottawa in a volunteer capacity. He managed the basketball team and softball team. He organized and supervised two student summer trips to Italy which were sponsored by the Italian government.

The softball team pictured here is wearing uniforms with a central badge reading GILE. The Gioventù Italiana del Littorio Estero was the foreign branch of the GIL, a fascist youth organization established in Italy on October 29, 1937. Organized under military discipline, the GILE sought to instill a love of Italy among youth and develop future generations of fascists. It provided recreational activities to both boys and girls ranging in age from 6 to 18.