The Glory of Terceira in Toronto

In the Azorean Island of Terceira, Sport Club Lusitânia is the pride of most local football (soccer) fans. They call it the Glory of Terceira. In Toronto, there is a counterpart that once witnessed glory of its own.

Sport Club Lusitânia of Toronto was founded on April 19, 1976, by a group of friends who hailed from the Azorean Island of Terceira. The initiative seems to have come from Fernando Gonçalves who met with ten other friends from his native city of Angra do Heroismo. Since then, the organization has developed into an important cultural, social, and sporting institution within the Portuguese community of Toronto.

The initial idea was to create a soccer team under the same name as the original from Angra do Heroismo. The success of the team led the founders to grow its plethora of sports and created a European Handball team, one of the the first – if not the first – in the Portuguese community. The handball squad attained such success that it even competed outside of the province.

Sports mobilized crowds and, consequently, the association grew. Only a few months after its official foundation, it moved into its iconic home at 103 Ossington Avenue, between Dundas and Queen Streets. The first election for the Board of Directors was held here shortly after. Board members, sócios, and supporters worked endless hours to renovate the building that was transformed into a sizeable hall equipped with bar, kitchen, office space, and a stage where many memorable performances took place – I personally recall watching ‘Inês de Castro’ here in the mid-nineteen nineties.  

For the next few years, the organization worked tirelessly to engage the community that originated from Terceira. Weekends were always filled with activities. The soccer and the handball teams played their matches under the gaze of large crowds, social gatherings regularly attracted dozens of families, and cultural activities involved both professionals and volunteers. Inevitably, Lusitânia began to leave an indelible mark within the scope of activities promoted by the various Portuguese community organizations in Toronto.

The organization’s Cultural Week, filled with numerous opportunities to bask in countless elements of Terceira’s cultural richness, became the main yearly event. The traditional danças carnavelescas, the Sanjoaninas, the theatre productions, and the annual beauty pageants became events that could not be missed by members and supporters and, during the decades of 1970 and 1980, the hall always filled to capacity. Such enthusiasm led to the formation of a folk-dance group that represented the traditions of Terceira and Angra do Heroismo in particular. However, just as is the case of other community organizations, the interest began to dwindle as the newer generation integrated into the general society.

The folk-dance group eventually entered the realms of history and so did many of the other social and cultural activities promoted by the association. The soccer team, which was the catalyst to what came afterward, also ceased operations, and so did the handball squad. Yet, although it encountered diminishing interest from its members, Lusitânia never had much difficulty forming a Board of Directors.

At the start of the new millennium, Sport Club Lusitânia of Toronto had just over 200 paying members. The organization continued to prosper and even dreamt of returning to the fulgor it had experienced two decades earlier, but the prospect of growth did not materialize. Recently, it moved its headquarters to the building that houses Casa dos Açores do Ontário, on College Street. Here, it maintains its sovereignty and its identity, and continues to serve a crucial role in the sustenance of Terceira’s cultural heritage in Toronto.