Like so many bowlers of Italian ancestry, John Mattioli, as a teenager, excelled at bocce in his hometown of Fano, in northern Italy.

However, following the completion of his formal education in 1959, John, sponsored by his father, sailed for Canada and joined the elder Mattioli in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The day after he arrived, John was in the construction industry, initially building and erecting wooden frames for the housing trade.

Following a one year initiation in Sault Ste. Marie, John travelled to Toronto and, after a short stint in the clothing business, John joined the King Edward Hotel.

John's bowling career actually began in Northern Ontario during the winter of 1959-60 and John was unique as he used a new style with the palm of his hand on top of the ball, similar to the way he delivered a bocce ball. John took this style with him to Toronto. However, his work commitments at the King Edward Hotel prevented John from participating in the prestigious City Major League which bowled every Saturday across Metro Toronto. As such, John bowled once a week and chose a top major league which bowled in Friday nights at Willow Bowl in North Toronto.

John made an initial impression on the local scene with an appearance on the CBC television show in May of 1963. John qualified by defeating over 200 bowlers in the preliminary round. However, on national television, John lost to Scarborough's Maw Mori in a five game match.

John continued with his limited bowling participation and when the Friday Night League moved to Bathurst Bowlerama, John proceeded to win high average titles in 1971-72 and 1972-73 with marks of 269 and 275 respectively. Also, in 1972, John won an Ace Invitational rolling a 378 final game to defeat Hall of Famer, Fraser Hambly. Fraser had entered the final game with a twenty-nine pin lead and bowled a 335 single himself, only to be denied victory.

During these early years, John also participated in the provincial Open qualifying rounds and, in 1968, finished fourth to bowl on the Toronto men's team. The provincial championships were held in Niagara Falls and John began a pattern of bowling a high last game to ensure a victory. In the Falls, John was a rookie and while he didn't bowl the early games, John did bowl a 389 final game to eliminate a 239 pin advantage held by the host Niagara zone. In the national finals, this team lost the Canadian title to the western representatives from British Columbia.

Overall, John has bowled in nineteen Opens including eleven as a singles representative, seventeen on the men's team and two on the mixed team. Provincial success arrived in 2002 when the men's team was successful in Hamilton, but finished sixth in Winnipeg. This past year, 2004, as the spectators were gathering for the stepladder singles finals at the Provincial Open, John and his senior team from Central Ontario were in a one game final against Metro Toronto and again John the winning shot in the tenth frame to secure the championship.

John's career changed dramatically in 1980. With his family growing and John's job responsibilities now firmly rooted in the Royal Bank, John joined the revamped Toronto City Majors League and the Master Bowlers' Association three years later.

In addition, a sore wrist as a result of his previous bowling delivery forced John adopting a more traditional delivery and began rolling a strong hook ball from the right side of the lane. As well, John's new delivery was helped with the introduction of personalized bowling balls and high quality shoes.

During this changeover, John's bowling career enjoyed moderate success with ten Open appearances between 1982 and 1996 but unfortunately no provincial championships.

Beginning in 1997 and continuing to the present day, John has become a dominant participant in our sport. In the Master Bowlers' Association, John won the 1997 Fall Classic and, that year, won a second event, the Mixed Triples. Averaging 268, John qualified for the MBAC national team and won bronze in Vancouver. The next year, John averaged 264 and again qualified for the Nationals and this time won gold in London. John continued his national streak by representing Ontario in the Masters Senior Division in 2001 in Saskatoon and 2002 in the National Open in Winnipeg.

In a forty-five year bowling career, John Mattioli achieved both early success and, as well, has continued even stronger in the present day. Above and beyond the achievements in the Masters and the Open, John has been a dominant force in open tournaments as well. In 2001, John won the annual 3-6-9 tournament at North End Bowl and he followed that up with a victory in the Bowlerama Match Play the next year. Beginning with the 2004-2005 season, John will be an active participant in league and tournament play, bowl in the Masters on both the regular and senior tour and, hopefully, again represent Central Ontario in the Open.

With Rina, his wife of forty-one years, and following his retirement from the Royal Bank in 2000, John lives in Mississauga and from three children, John Jr., Paul and Helen, there are two granddaughters, Andrea and Sarah. Be assured, the final chapter of John Mattioli's bowling career is still to be written.