Imagine, for a moment, being a teenage soccer standout, and deciding to try out with the big league football Alouettes. Add  his status as an unemployed about-to-be-married kid whose hometown was in far away Pisa, Italy, and a broken hand from a May soccer match, and you would  probably need a fairy godmother to intervene. For Giovanni Berretta, better known as Gino, that magical intervention came in the unlikely form of Alouette coach Perry Moss.

Although soccer was his passion (he was the youngest pro player in Canada at age 14), the product of Marymount High in NDG  played one year of football with the St. Laurent juvenile team as a kicker / offensive end came to the attention of Moss when he kicked a 37 yard field goal in deep snow during the traditional New Years Day Garbage Bowl game. Scout J.I. Albrecht was dispatched to find out more, and an invitation to the Alouettes Canadian tryout camp resulted.

Too small at 180 lbs. for a line position, Gino’s leg strength impressed Moss, and he was willing to chance a roster spot to allow Gino to develop. He was required to adopt the traditional straight-on field goal kick, as he was only allowed to use a soccer-style kick for only the longest attempts. An indifferent year as a punter  led to Gino being released after eight games in the 1961 season. His 40.3 yard average was respectable, but a miserable performance on a wet field against Calgary sealed his fate. In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, Berretta was named the top rookie in the East for his 1961 season. Uninvited to the main training camp in 1962, his football career seemed to have ended  after just one year. Gino joined the junior football NDG Maple Leafs to work on his kicking.  However, the continuing quest for a punter led Gino back to the Alouettes in 1963. The league demographics had changed dramatically: in 1958 only two punters were Canadian, in 1963 there were 6 on the 9 teams.  The growing sense that a strong field goal threat was eclipsing the role of the punter in the game’s overall strategy, started a trend of having a more thrifty (read: Canadian) solution in that position.

His junior experience and larger size allowed Gino to make the team as punter and placekicker in 1963. He became the regular kicker after an injury knocked Bobby Jack Oliver out for the season in September and a further rash of injuries created a chance to play as atr offensive end as well. Now established as a regular player, Gino finished sixth in the east in scoring. 1964 was a less successful year, as he punted well, leading the east,  but missed 8 of 9 field goal attempts. The team restricted him to punting and long field goal attempts in 1965 but torn ligaments in the fourth game cut short his season after 4 games. In 1966 he was a spot starter on offence and defence and handled the team’s punting, but his average dipped to 38.4 yards.

Cut by the Alouettes during the 1967 training camp in favour of import Dave Lewis, he signed on with the Continental League Montreal Beavers. An attempted trade to Ottawa in November was vetoed by for technical reasons and Gino stayed with the Beavers for the balance of the season, joining the Rough Riders for the 1968 campaign as punter for 3 games. In 1969 he rejoined the Alouettes part way through the getting into just seven games as a placekicker. An attempt to make the team in 1970 was hampered by a persistent thigh injury, and Gino retired. After football  Gino completed a diploma in orthesis/prosthesis in 1972. He is the owner of J.E. Hanger, a Montreal  based company  involved in the manufacture and sale  of orthopedic, prosthetic & surgical appliances & supplies.

[Bio by Wes Cross]

Berretta Named Top Rookie In East - November 4, 1961