The Castlegar and District Complex has a new member to their Wall of Fame. Jennie Gallo is the new inductee in honour and recognition for her outstanding achievements in sports.
“I am grateful and humbled to be inducted on the Wall of Fame at the Castlegar Complex. Thank you to those that nominated me and to the Castlegar Recreation Commission for giving me such an acknowledgement,” said Jennie Gallo. “I always want to keep athletics as part of my life. I find it rewarding these days to encourage people to use their abilities in sports and to pursue their goals they are passionate about achieving.”
Being born and raised in Castlegar, Jennie was an active participant in both hockey and softball. She was apart of the Castlegar minor hockey program, starting when she was five. Throughout her 12 years playing minor hockey she won two Provincial titles with the West Kootenay Wildcats and another three Provincial titles with the BC Outback Senior AAA team. In 2006, Jennie was given the Premier’s Athletic Award as the top female hockey in the province. She also got to represent Canada on a couple of occasions, playing in the 2007 Canada Winter Games and being selected to both the Under 18 and Under 22 Team Canada training camps.
After her time in minor hockey, Jennie accepted a full athletic scholarship to play hockey for the University of Maine Black Bears. In her four seasons playing university hockey, she led the team in scoring in the first three seasons while capturing the teams Rookie of the Year in 2008. She graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and Family Relations along with being a member of the Hockey East-All Academic Team.
Jennie’s hockey career took her overseas, as in 2016, she played for the EV Bomo Thun in the Switzerland A-League playing against other teams in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Korea. A year later in 2017, she earned a bronze medal with the Neuberg Highlanders and a silver medal as part of the second division team, the Vienna Capitals in Austria.
She wasn’t just a one-sport athlete as she won a softball Provincial title in 2005. Jennie still loves to play competitive slow pitch and men’s hockey recreation leagues in Lethbridge where she now lives and works in the human services field as a Client Services Practitioner.
