World champ Val returns to football roots

Had it not been for a ruptured ACL, Val Smith may not have gone on to become one of the greatest lawn bowlers in New Zealand history.

Having made the national under 21s and New Zealand B football teams, her sporting destiny seemed set in stone.

Val was fully focused on football when she suffered the gruesome injury, forcing her to part ways with her greatest passion.

However, while rehabilitating, Val discovered she may have a future in another sport.

“Bowls was nowhere near the radar, I didn’t even know it existed.”

Along with friend and teammate Jo Edwards, the two women helped change the game for Nelson bowlers and the lessons Val had learned on the football field led her to become a world champion.

Her football career began in an open grade against grown women at only 14-years-old.

“I was playing alongside likes of Karen and Tish Rackley, Jane Miles, Karen Walton, all top sportswomen.”

After reluctantly hanging up her boots, Val brought the same competitiveness and commitment she gave to football to her new sport.

The switch proved fruitful for Val, as she went on to amass more than 600 caps for New Zealand, winning multiple world championships and Commonwealth Games medals.

Seeing how rapidly she and Jo rose through the ranks, fellow club members adopted the pair’s professionalism, significantly raising the standards of bowls in the region.

“People say when one door closes another one opens. Even though I was devastated by the injury, my bowls performance improved out of sight because I was forced to slow down, be very calculated and maintain my technique.”

After countless bowls accolades, Val has been given the chance to reconnect with her first sporting love.

Val recently came home to Nelson after a six-year stint in Sydney working at the Merrylands Bowling Club.

The Australian lockdowns proved a blessing in disguise for Val in 2020.

With the pressures of bowls no longer a factor, she realised how stressed she had been.

“It just totally relaxed me, it was the first time in my entire life where I just wasn’t doing anything.”

After some retrospect, Val decided to move where she knew she would be happiest.

“It made everything much clearer, I wanted to be in the place I loved most and decided it’s time to come home.”

Upon arrival in Nelson, Val assessed her career options.

“Sport has always been my one big constant and I want to pass the knowledge and skills on to other people.”

Opportunities would quickly beckon for the world-class athlete.

It didn’t take long before she was offered a position as the new high-performance coaching academy for Bowls NZ and was hired as operations administration manager at Nelson Bays Football.

Val says she will come in with an open, fresh, and positive mind as she seeks to help improve the football environment in Nelson.

“I think the key to my longevity in sport is my enjoyment and I want other people to experience that too.”

As well as balancing her new roles, Val’s storied international career still has some chapters to be written.

“When the world opens up again, I still have the desire to represent New Zealand, I am crossing my fingers that the Birmingham Commonwealth Games will go ahead next year.”

Until that time though, Val is embracing her new challenge.

“I am really excited about this opportunity, when I took up bowls I wasn’t ready to give up football and I always felt like I didn’t finish something I loved.”