A World Cup Alumna Catching up with New Zealand soccer star Rebecca Smith ’99
About Rebecca Smith ’99 Rebecca Smith recently competed in Women’s World Cup Soccer for the New Zealand national team, of which she has been a member since 2003. Smith is also a member of the professional women’s soccer team VFL Wolfsburg in Germany. In addition to her athletic accomplishments, Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and Spanish from Duke University and recently completed her Master of Business Administration degree in Hannover, Germany.
On playing for New Zealand in the World Cup Growing up , I played all sports and did almost every activity possible, so while I had an interest in soccer, it wasn’t my main priority. When I was selected for the Olympic Development Program in the United States at around 13 years old, I didn’t really have any interest in traveling with the team and missing school. I guess my interest wasn’t strong enough at such an early age to really commit my whole life to just one activity. It wasn’t until I was in my last year of
college at Duke University when I got the call from the New Zealand national team (age 20) that I was really focusing on soccer. I was captain of the team, and it seemed natural to give it a shot. Plus, my family is all originally from New Zealand. It felt special to represent such a small country of only 4 million people, along with my whole extended family. I’ve played for New Zealand since 2003,
including the 2007 China World Cup, 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the 2011 World Cup. When we are not playing against the U.S. team, I am rooting for them (or at least for my many friends on the team).
On the dedication of her fellow New Zealand team members New Zealand football doesn’t have nearly the resources that other countries have for their women’s programs, simply because it’s a smaller country and doesn’t have the money that other countries pour into their sports programs. Terefore, our national team relies a lot on the dedication of its players. All of us have to either study or work because we only get a daily allowance while on tour. Certainly, no one has gotten rich by
representing New Zealand in women’s soccer. Players have all sacrificed in some way in order to play for our country. Some have to extend their university studies by almost double because they can only study at half-pace, while some can only work part- time jobs, giving up better, more lucrative jobs in order to be able to put in the hours necessary to train at this level. We all spend a lot of time with the team between twice-a- day training sessions and commuting to and from training, which means we are not with our loved ones. We also travel a lot, so that means a lot of time on airplanes, buses, cars, and vans. We have had two moms on our team who have spent precious early stages of their children’s childhoods with the team and not with their children.
8 THE COMPASS
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