Second chance for Naseby curlers

• Published date: 10 June 2021
• Publication title: Central Otago News

Yet the 21-year-olds, two of Naseby’s finest, have years ahead of them on the ice.

To get to the Olympics is not a given, due to the competitive nature of mixed doubles in New Zealand, but they may have another shot in December.

The pair have done Naseby — population 100 — proud with their placing of 12th overall, and within hours completing the mandatory 14-day stint in managed isolation required upon arriving back in New Zealand, they return to the ice at the Maniototo Curling International rink to compete in the New Zealand Open Men’s and Women’s Championships today.

Hood is Auckland-born but Naseby-raised and after completing year 13 at Maniototo Area School, finished his building apprenticeship for Breen Construction in Alexandra before work across the Tasman beckoned.

The qualified carpenter-builder works for architectural residential building company, Artstruct in Brisbane.

Smith, also a Maniototo Area School alumnus, is a third-year nursing student and will graduate from Otago polytechnic in December.

Short-term, she is completing the paperwork to be a provisional Covid vaccinator in Dunedin.

Curling was something Hood started around ages 12 to 13 with mates from school under coach, and curling stalwart, Peter Becker.

Smith’s path in the sport is similar, starting at 13 and competing in secondary school competitions.

For both Smith and Hood living in Naseby meant curling was inevitable.

The seeds were quickly sown.

‘‘I got into it pretty quickly and played my first secondary school comp later that year,’’ Hood said. In 2016 he shifted focus, stopping club rugby to focus on curling in the winter season.

There is also a sychronicity in Smith’s trajectory.

‘‘I really got the bug when I realised there was an opportunity to be selected for the 2016 Youth Olympic Games and I really set my sights on it.’’

It was a goal she achieved, going to Lillehammer, Norway, to an atmosphere she described as ‘‘out of this world’’ and a motivating factor for continuing the sport.

Hood also played in his first international event in 2016 at the Pacific Asia Curling Championship, as the alternate for Team Peter de Boer, ‘‘getting to play ... with my New Zealand curling idols, Peter de Boer as skip, Sean Becker, Scott Becker, Warren Dobson and my long-time coach Peter Becker’’.

Smith said being skipper of the New Zealand Womens’ Under 21 team at the World Junior B Curling Championship in 2020 cemented curling as her sport.

Hood’s international career was also taking off.

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