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An introduction to Annabella Gatto and her hockey journey

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anna gatto

“I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, because of you I didn’t give up” – Unknown

My name is Annabella Gatto. I am 15 years old and I live on Long Island, NY.

I began playing Hockey at 11 yrs old. First deck hockey, then when I was 13 I started to play roller hockey then onto ice hockey.  My journey wasn’t an easy one and I still feel I have a long road ahead of me.

My most challenging experiences are when I play ice hockey. I love being on the ice and I love skating and of course I love the game of hockey.  With the help of my parents and some great coaches I have learned a lot, gained experience and will continue to play as much as I can.  My biggest obstacle is that I am mostly the only girl (or one of very few girls) on a team.  Because of my age, the boys don’t always accept me and it used to REALLY bother me.  I was always left out of the team high-fives and excitement.  I felt like an outsider and it would bring me down.

I realized with the help of some AMAZING mentors that I have met that I need to just push forward and not pay attention to the boys that don’t want to accept me or as my mom says, ”They don’t know how to treat me because they never experienced girls on their team”.

I now feel that nobody will stop me from playing ice hockey. I need to rise above the “haters” and show them that my passion and talent for the game is why I play.

This season I am playing for my high school’s district hockey team. It’ll be my first ever official ice hockey team that I am on. I will be the only girl on the Junior Varsity and Varsity team. I’m hoping for a great season this year with new opportunities and (hopefully) some good teammates.

Stay tuned to next month when I tell you about meeting three Olympic gold medalists!  I’ll be posting a new blog around the 5th of the month, but if you want to see more of me you can follow me on my social medias: @ag.hockey97 and @agatto97.

Leave some comments if you want, I’d love to hear from my readers! See you in October!!

Youth Hockey

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anna gatto
anna gatto
anna gatto
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