Mary Katherine Gialames '18 Recruiting Profile

As a sophomore at Shady Side Academy I am challenged on a daily basis to excel academically and athletically.  I take pride in being a high achieving self motivated student. I am involved in several scholastic activities and I am the co-captain of the Shady Side Academy Prep School (varsity) ice hockey team and the Pittsburgh Penguins U16 Elite Tier 1 hockey team.

In addition to my academic and athletic accomplishments, I am actively involved in several community and faith based activities including monthly visits to the community food bank, and working with special needs children.  I help with a community based baseball program called Miracle League.  We spend Saturdays and Halloween helping children with special needs get more involved with athletics and the community.  I am considered a "buddy" that works with the players to protect them from balls, assist with batting and moving around the bases, and to just be a friend.   Our neighborhood is fortunate to have a league for special needs children along with a specially designed adaptive field for the players.  Working with children has inspired me to select elementary education with a focus on foreign language as my collegiate major.  The time spent at the community food bank is to help organize and distribute produce to families in need.  I especially enjoy both of these volunteer experiences because I am spending time with a diverse group of people, helping others, and participating with my older brother and or mom.  

I have three brothers ages 18, 11, and 8.  Together my oldest brother Alex and I have shared many emotional times as he continues to completed the Naval Academy college acceptance process while he encourages me to push forward positively with my hockey career. Two of my brothers also play hockey and many of our days are spent together improving skills or taking turns being the sacrificial goalie.   When extra time allows, I spend time working with the local community Junior Panthers Hockey team. These are new skaters wanting to advance the basics.  My youngest brother enjoys some of my other passions as well.  I find myself taking time to relax fishing with my mom and grandfather, shooting clay pigeons, riding quads, or hiking in the woods.  Ultimate Frisbee is a second or third sport of mine that I enjoy to play for fun and also compete on my high school team in the spring.   

Shadyside Academy has a strong visual arts program. I will be taking photography my junior and senior years along with basic drawling.  I have an extensive collection of photographs taken outdoors and of people in original situations.  Another unique activity I enjoy is nail art.  I can draw anything on one's finger nail and find it rewarding.  While free time is limited I know that I need to keep my mind open to original thoughts and decompress.  

I successfully balance my strong academic performance with my passion to be a premier defensive hockey player that I plan to continue to pursue while in college.  My high level of play and skating skills have successfully granted me National Camp success two years in a row.  My Pens Elite U16 team as gone to Nationals, in our division, the past two years.  We won second place in the National game last season.  I was fortunate to be part of a dedicated and hard working team that proved their effort throughout the season could pay off.  I work hard off ice training and on ice with a skating coach.  I realize that strengthening my cardio work outs while improving my skating, stick handling, and shot is a continuous process to achieve collegiate hockey.  

I possess the discipline and dedication needed to consistently meet or exceed high academic and athletic standards.  My current GPA is 3.6.  I welcome new and exciting challenges as opportunities to learn and grow as a student and maturing teenager beginning the college selection process.  I am planning to travel to Spain my junior year for Spanish club and continue my intensive studies.  

I am eager to begin on site college campus tours, shadowing students in the major I intend to pursue, and exploring women's collegiate ice hockey opportunities.  My passion is to succeed academically while playing college hockey at a competitive level with other team members striving to accomplish the similar goals.