Greenbank Hockey player a star on the rise

Smith recently returned from a tour of New Zealand with the Queensland under 19 schoolgirls team which went defeated, after only weeks earlier winning the rookie of the year for the Brisbane Hockey Association.

The 17-year-old won the Shirley Otto Award as the rookie of the year of the Brisbane Women's Hockey Association Division 1 competition playing for Easts Hockey Club at based at Carina, an honour which took the talented defender by surprise.

“I wasn’t expecting it, it was such a shock and such a privilege, I dunno how to explain it, it was so cool, and the comp is so big as well,” she said.

“My team was really friendly and open and came in as a family and I love them all, they were so helpful in giving me tips and stuff and telling me to keep going.”

Smith said she thoroughly enjoyed her first overseas trip as an athlete.

“It was really, good, it was so fun, such a good trip, I got to meet so many girls over there from New Zealand which was fun, and then we played the under 21s Maori team which was amazing as they showed us all their culture and everything which was just really cool,” she said.

“We played Wellington, Hawke’s Bay twice, an Auckland team twice, we played the Maori team twice and another team as well.

“It’s my first selection for the under 19s. I’ve played under 16s for the last two years, but this was my first overseas trip with the team, I did make the under 16s Australian schoolgirls team but I had to pull out of that because of injury, they were going to go South Africa.”

After recently being picked in the Queensland under 18s squad Smith said she has hopes of representing her country and becoming a Hockeyroo.

“One day, I’d like to play for Australia, to take after people like Angie Lambert, we play the same position, she’s retired now but she was just amazing and I’d love to maybe go to the Olympics one day,” she said.

“I reckon just playing one game for Australia would be just amazing.”