Brock hoops standout rebounds from setback
Badgers scoring leader plays in all-star game
Getting cut from an elite basketball team wasn’t easy for Kristin Gallant.
Despite the doubt, she used the experience to stoke the fires of motivation.
“I had all my friends competing in the JUEL (junior elite) level while I was playing in the rep level for all of high school, including my senior year,” said Gallant. “I tried out for a JUEL team at the beginning of Grade 12 and got cut, so I never saw myself eventually having the chance to play in university.”
She was a four-sport athlete at Bishop Reding Secondary in Milton. Gallant wasn’t familiar with being rejected by a team. She gave every opportunity her best shot.
Gallant was focused when she stepped back onto the court. She led her club team, Hamilton Transway, to back-to-back Ontario championships.
Brock University quickly recruited her and Gallant led the Badgers with 13.1 points per game as a starter in her first season.
“I still made university basketball a goal for myself anyways because I couldn’t see my life without basketball,” she said.
On Saturday, Gallant competed alongside the best university players in the province at the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) women’s basketball allstar game in Waterloo.
“Success at the university level seemed very out of reach for myself,” said Gallant when discussing that final year of high school.
Brock’s assistant athletic director, Chris Critelli, has been involved with women’s basketball for more than 35 years.
There’s no doubt in her mind when she looks at Gallant’s rookie season.
“Kristin has the potential to be one of the basketball greats at Brock,” said Critelli. “She is athletic and a joy to watch on the court.
“If she continues to be a student of the game and work hard, Kristin will help lead our team to new heights.”
Gallant, a shooting guard, developed as her rookie season played out.
She poured in 19 points in the Badgers’ second last game of the season. Gallant collected a total of 11 rebounds twice during the season and routinely hit doubledigit points in the second half of the campaign.
“In my first year, I learned that the most important thing you need to have is confidence, which I lacked coming into university,” admitted Gallant. “Although it is still not 100 per cent there, I have improved my confidence greatly. I was put to the test in this first year.
“With the amount of playing time I got, I really had no choice but to gain confidence in my abilities to play to give myself the chance to improve mentally and physically.”
Even in the face of pressure that basketball brings, Gallant has fun playing the game and positively pushes herself on the court when her parents are in the stands.
“As typical as it is, my inspiration is my
‘‘ “Knowing that my parents are watching me always gives me that extra motivation because nothing else feels better than to make your parents proud.”
KRISTIN GALLANT
Brock University women’s basketball
parents. I know that they love to watch me play, they are always at my games, they have spent countless hours these last couple years driving me to games and practices no matter how busy they are or how far away it is,” said Gallant. “They do this all because they know the sport brings me joy and I can’t help but play and try my hardest for them to show them that all the hard work they put into my sports is greatly appreciated.
“Knowing that my parents are watching me always gives me that extra motivation because nothing else feels better than to make your parents proud.”