Keith Galen Ballard (born November 26 1982) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played with the Phoenix Coyotes Florida Panthers and the Vancouver Canucks. He played college hockey for the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) for three seasons. After his freshman year he was selected 11th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Given a list of categories: company, educational institution, artist, athlete, office holder, mean of transportation, building, natural place, village, animal, plant, album, film or written work, what category does the paragraph belong to?
A:
Athlete