It was a great night for curling and, in particular, Brett Gallant, at the 43rd annual Sport PEI Awards this evening at Holland College’s Florence Simmons Performance Hall. Gallant took home both the Bell Aliant Senior Male Athlete of the Year award, and the Lieutenant Governor’s Award, presented to the top overall Island athlete. Brett’s mother, Kathie Gallant, was on hand for the award presentations.
Sport PEI photo (L-R): Lieutenant Governor’s Award presentation – Tracey Clements (Sport PEI President), Kathie Gallant (Brett’s mother), Lt.-Governor Frank Lewis
Sport PEI Photo (L-R): Ron Waite (Sport PEI), Kathie Gallant (Brett’s mother), Paul Montgomery (Bell Aliant) with the Bell Aliant Senior Male Athlete of the Year award presentation
Charlottetown’s Brett Gallant is no stranger to winning, having been a former Canadian Junior Champion and now looking for even higher achievements at the Brier and Olympic levels. Brett added two Grand Slams to his resume this past year, plus the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and a Cash Spiel. Playing second stone with Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue rink, Gallant and his teammates have a major goal in mind, to “win the Brier”. In 2016 they came up just short, losing 9-5 to Alberta’s Kevin Koe and took home the runner-up position. After winning the 2016 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championships with Jocelyn Peterman, Gallant gave up his chance to play in the World Mixed Doubles event, in order to curl in the Player’s Championship with the Gushue Rink. It proved to be a rewarding decision, as the team left with no less than a gold medal. Training hard with Team Gushue, Brett has his eyes set on qualifying for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. At their current rate, a podium finish for Brett Gallant and his teammates would not be out of the question.