Australian OzTag player and former Young girl, Susan Smith was in town last week, bringing with her a handful of junior players for a short intensive training trip.
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Susan, who is the daughter of Don and Christine Smith of Young, has just returned to Australia with a 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the first women’s open division of the Oztag World Cup in New Zealand.
She has been a member of the Australian team for seven years, during which the side has never lost a game.
And Susan thought what better way to get the junior players from the Cronulla OzTag Club she coaches, away from the city and their busy teenage lives, than to take them on a three-day training camp to where it all began for her.
Susan, her assistant coaches and her squad of 15-year-old girls managed to snag a sponsor, hire a mini bus and head west last Tuesday to build on their team skills and bonding before they take on the Wollongong State Cup in February.
“I wanted to get them away from commitments at home – it’s good bonding and it’s been an eye-opener for them,” Susan said.
“Most of these girls have never been out this far – they love it – they love it how it takes five minutes to get anywhere,” she laughed.
The players got to put aside their gruelling training schedule for a few hours and visited the local pool and orchards, and had a stroll down the main street.
“When they first got here they were saying they ‘were in the middle of nowhere’,” Susan said, “but I think Young is bigger than they thought!”
“The diving board was a hit at the pool – the pools they usually swim at don’t have diving boards anymore,” she laughed.
Susan also told The Young Witness the girls didn’t believe her when she said the local paper was coming to visit them during their last training session last Thursday to do a story.
The players enjoyed their Young experience so much Susan is even thinking of making the trip annual.
An avid sportsperson while growing up in town, it was actually the local touch competition that helped get Susan’s foot through the door to the world of OzTag.
The former St Mary’s Primary School, St Mary’s Catholic School (now Hennessy Catholic College) and Young High School student played touch football at Wollongong University while studying where she was encouraged to join the area’s OzTag competition.
“I started playing in local competitions at 18, months later was selected for the rep team and have been playing ever since,” Susan said.
By the time she was 24-years-old, she was selected for the Australian team as a winger and now at 32, she’s also heavily involved with the junior players of the Cronulla Club she’s been a member of for three years.
“I really worked hard in that position (winger) and that’s how I came to be where I am today – the Australian team is so encouraging, I thought if I cement a position and keep working hard at it, I’ll own it,” she said.
“I’ve got so much out of the sport and some of my best friends play OzTag and touch so I wanted to give something back [when the club wanted coaches],” Susan said.
“If these girls make good friends and have a good experience then I’ve done my job,” she said.
