Cheryl Smith, of Kaikohe, has dedicated her life to rugby and creating opportunities for youth through sport. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Cheryl Smith, of Kaikohe, has dedicated her life to rugby and creating opportunities for youth through sport. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Cheryl Smith, Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby
When women’s rugby legend Cheryl Smith got an email telling her she’d been nominated for a New Year Honour she thought it was a hoax.
She considered binning it but checked it out instead, discovered it was genuine, filled in the paperwork — then promptly forgot about it in the excitement of starting a new job promoting the women’s game.
Confirmation a few days ago that she had been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit meant she experienced the surprise and amazement all over again.
“I feel very honoured, it’s really humbling that someone, or a group of people, would nominate me. It wasn’t just me, it was a great team of people that allowed me to do what I’ve done. So I take the accolade with them standing beside me,” she said.
Smith (nee Waaka) started her rugby career in 1997. She represented New Zealand as a Black Fern in the victorious squads at the 1998 and 2002 Women’s Rugby World Cups, scoring the winning try against England in the latter. She also won several provincial titles with the Auckland side.
In 2005 she was the first woman to coach the Northland men’s senior rugby team, and from 2019-21 she was head coach of the inaugural Farah Palmer Cup Northland Kauri women’s side.
She has coached Kaikohe senior women and U16 girls and has just stepped down after 12 years as president of the Kaikohe Rugby Football Sports Club.
Smith, who is Ngāpuhi, drove the rebuilding of the club after a fire destroyed its base in 2008, and was involved in the long campaign to get an indoor sports complex off the ground at neighbouring Lindvart Park.
Cheryl Smith was instrumental in persuading Super Rugby to bring a Blues versus Chiefs pre-season game to Kaikohe in 2019. Photo / Peter de Graaf
She was also instrumental in persuading Super Rugby to bring a Blues versus Chiefs game to Kaikohe in 2019.
Until recently she was employed by Sport Northland as a “community connector”, helping people, children especially, play and succeed in a range of sports.
Smith credits her love of the game to growing up in Ōtaua in a rugby family.
She played for Tāheke where the entire community would come together every weekend — not just for sport, but also to celebrate events and milestones and help each other when needed, whether it be for haymaking or family crises.
“Rugby has been my life. It has shown me a pathway of how to connect with people, and it’s taught me to become a leader. Playing taught me resilience, and that if you really want something you have to work hard to get it.”
Cheryl Smith, of Kaikohe, says women’s rugby is “only going to get better”. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Smith is looking forward to her new role as women’s lead for Northland Rugby, tasked with growing the women’s and girls’ game. The timing couldn’t be better given the Black Ferns’ World Cup triumph.
“The growth, the excitement is amazing. Seeing girls from 5 years old who want to play rugby and hearing men talk about how great those games were. To have it in Northland was a real win — and it’s only going to get better.”
