Beth Smith

Beth Smith, formerly Beth Jurgeleit, was a WGC student from Year 9 in 1994 to Year 13 in 1998. Beth played hockey for all of her five years at WGC. She started off in the 2nd XI team and then moved up to the 1st XI in Year 12. In her final year Beth was named hockey player of the year. Her highlight of school hockey was winning the second tier tournament, the Marie Fry Trophy, in Greymouth in 1998.

Beth went on to be the goalie for our national women’s hockey team, the Black Sticks, and made her debut against Japan in 2003. She played 105 international games for New Zealand, playing at three Champions’ Trophy campaigns, three Champions’ Challenges, two Olympic Games, two Commonwealth Games and one World Cup over her years in the team.

She has experienced many highs including beating South Africa 2-0 in the 2005 Champions’ Challenge. They also won the 2009 challenge by the same score to the same team. She also was part of the team that won a silver medal at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Beth decided to retire from hockey in 2010 to focus on finishing her law and commerce degree. She has now completed this and is a qualified lawyer. However, hockey isn’t completely gone, as she is still a member of the International Hockey Federation Athletes’ Commission.