There have been so many significant developments in Keli Smith's life in the last few years that few would have batted an eye if she walked away from the U.S. Women's National Field Hockey team.
She gave birth to son Xavi in January, 2010. She and husband Inako Puzo moved from Virginia to Ohio, where Puzo was hired to coach Miami University's hockey team in April. And she's expecting their second child in three weeks.
Yet despite those life-defining events, Smith is still planning to make a run at the 2012 Olympics. Then, at age 33, she'll call it quits.
"I think for a lot of people it can be a very difficult decision (to retire), but it isn't because I've started a family and I've been able to do everything I've wanted to do in field hockey," she said. "Am I going to miss playing at that level and miss my teammates? Of course. No question. I also know it's the right decision."
Smith, a Selinsgrove graduate, is the eldest member of the U.S. Women's National team, and second only to midfielder Carrie Lingo with 151 international caps. When she returned to the team about a year after the birth of her son, Smith said she felt "better than ever." That gives her hope she'll be on the field in London next summer as a mother of two.
"I think most people would say women's field hockey players hit their prime in the mid-20s, maybe early 30s (but) that's pushing it," she said. "I think my skills are where they were five years ago, but I know, at some point, you begin to physically decline. I just let my body take its course. I didn't know what was going to transpire (after the first pregnancy), and now this one is the same.
"If I can train and compete with the girls (in 2012), that'll be great. If not? That's OK."
Smith has been at the top of the USA Field Hockey ladder for more than a decade. She became a member of the national team in 2001, not long after finishing a collegiate career at Maryland as a three-time All-American and 1999 national champion. In the interim she's played a lot of hockey (Smith scored the first U.S. goal in the 2008 Beijing Games) and spent time on several college staffs, most recently at the University of Virginia where Puzo was Associate Head Coach.
She's a player local girls in the USA Futures program can aspire to emulate. When Smith first made her mark in the sport, though, playing in the Olympics wasn't a goal.
"I enjoyed (the Futures) process and taking each step at a time," Smith said, "but it wasn't until I got into college and went to (bigger) camps that I realized the possibilities."
She played other sports but she was ultimately drawn to field hockey around age 13 because her sister Kara, six years older, was a successful player and Smith looked up to her.
"Keli was just a natural as soon as she held a stick," said longtime Selinsgrove coach Cathy Keiser. "Her work ethic and overall mental toughness and attitude set her apart. When we were running or doing any kind of drill she never had to go full speed but she did, and it brought up the level of everyone around her.
"We knew from the get-go, as soon as we saw her step on the field, she was exceptional."
Smith, a 1996 NFHCA High School All-American, credited Keiser and former Bucknell coach Heather Lewis, her Futures mentor, as the pivotal figures in her transformation from a novice to a scholarship athlete. After 15 years, despite advances in equipment and the prevalence of turf fields, she still points to coaching as the most important factor in a young player's development.
"That's the key — having quality coaches," she said. "Young athletes need to latch onto people who know the game and can guide them in the right direction."
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Smith wants to play in London
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