Ray Alviano

Ray Alviano was born in 1934 in Guelph. He got his start in the newspaper business in 1956 at the Guelph Mercury, working as a general reporter/photographer. In 1959, Alviano was hired by the K-W Record for a position in its sports department. His career at The Record spanned 33 years. From 1968 to 1978 Alviano held the sports editor’s position. He was a member of the Ontario Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, serving two terms as president in the early 1970s.

Alviano’s efforts did not go unnoticed as many local, provincial and national athletic organizations honoured him for his work. In 1981 he was inducted into the Ontario Five-Pin Bowling Association Hall of Fame.

Alviano took on the job of managing the K-W Civitan junior women’s softball team in 1983 and that year they won both the provincial and national championships. It would be the start of more successful runs, as the Civitan won provincial and national honours in 1987, 1989 and 1990.

Alviano was the founding president of Kitchener Fastball Promotions founded in 1994. The mandate of the group is to bring provincial, national and international softball (fastball) events to Kitchener. Alviano’s volunteerism was also significant with Kitchener Minor hockey, Kitchener Minor Girls Softball and Kitchener Minor Baseball.

He was a member of the organizing committee for five Canadian junior baseball championships from 1995 to 2000. He volunteered for the 1997 World Women’s Hockey Championship and 4 Nations Cup in 2002, both held in Kitchener.

Alviano was also the media vice-chair for the 2008 Memorial Cup Junior Hockey Championship held at the Kitchener Auditorium.