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Kereyn Maree Smith (born 7 November 1960) is a New Zealand sports administrator. She was the chief executive and secretary general of the
New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to r ...
(NZOC) from January 2011 to December 2021. She has also held several other roles in sports administration.


Early life

Smith was born in Clinton in the
South Otago South Otago lies in the south east of the South Island of New Zealand. As the name suggests, it forms the southernmost part of the geographical region of Otago. The exact definition of the area designated as South Otago is imprecise, as the area is ...
region of the
South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman S ...
of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
. Growing up on a farm, she attended Clinton primary school and South Otago High School. Part of a rugby-playing family, she was active in sport. However, her plans to compete at the highest levels ended when, while still at school, she was thrown from a horse, breaking her leg and damaging her knee. After leaving school she obtained a diploma in physical education from the
University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate ...
, graduating in 1981, and followed this with a diploma in teaching from Christchurch Teachers College, now part of the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...
, where she played both netball and rugby.


Career

After obtaining teaching qualifications, Smith taught physical education in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom. She then took up a management position in Sport Manawatu. At the same time, she was carrying out coaching and administrative roles on a voluntary basis, mainly in
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
, leading to her being appointed to the board of Netball New Zealand, which she chaired for six of the eleven years she was on it. She was also vice-chair of the International Netball Federation. In other sporting roles she became a trustee for the multipurpose
Forsyth Barr Stadium The Forsyth Barr Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand. At various stages of development it was also known as Dunedin Stadium or Awatea Street Stadium, or its non-commercial official name during the 2011 Rugby World Cup a ...
in Dunedin and a director of the Highlanders
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
team in Dunedin. In 2004, she returned to her alma mater of the University of Otago as a Council member, staying in that role for a decade. Smith served as private secretary to New Zealand's Minister of Sport, Fitness and Leisure. She then became senior manager and then general manager of the Hillary Commission, named after
Sir Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...
who, together with
Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; perhaps 29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to reach the su ...
, was the first person to climb
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...
. The Commission was later renamed Sport New Zealand. In 2000 she was appointed chief executive of the New Zealand Academy of Sport (South Island), holding that position until the South Island Academy was merged with that of the North Island to form High Performance Sport NZ, a section of Sport New Zealand.


New Zealand Olympic Committee

At the end of 2010 Smith was appointed Secretary General of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC), the first woman to be given this role. She announced her retirement in 2021 and in December 2021 it was announced that Nicki Nicol had been chosen to replace her. One of her main aims during her tenure had been to increase the number of women involved in leadership positions in sport. For these efforts the NZOC was awarded the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
's World Trophy for Women in Sport in November 2015, the first time the award had been given to any national Olympic committee. The NZOC's activities that led to the award included the Aspiring Women's Olympic Leaders programme, which supports female athletes to transition to leadership positions in the work place. The NZOC also monitors the gender balance on national sports boards. Smith was responsible for organising the participation of more than one thousand athletes from New Zealand, together with their support teams, at three
Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
(
London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, Rio de Janeiro 2016, Tokyo 2021), two
Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were hel ...
( Sochi 2014,
PyeongChang 2018 , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wint ...
) and two
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
( Glasgow 2014, Queensland 2018). Her role included logistics and well as generating sponsorship. Particular difficulties were experienced as a result of the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a result of the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
pandemic. In addition to her role with NZOC, Smith was involved with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), including as a member of the 2024 Olympic Bid Evaluation Commission. She is also vice-president of the
Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is governing body of the ...
board.


Awards and honours

Smith was given the IOC Women in Sport award in 1999. She received the Netball New Zealand service award in 2006. In 2012 she was inducted into the Wall of Fame of her alma mater, the University of Otago and in the same year she was made a life member of Netball New Zealand. In 2015 she was made a Member of the
New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
(MNZM) in the
Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...
. Smith received the International Netball Federation service award in 2017. In the
2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...
, Smith was promoted to
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
, for services to sports governance.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Kereyn 1960 births Living people New Zealand netball coaches New Zealand netball administrators Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at South Otago High School People from Clinton, New Zealand University of Otago alumni University of Canterbury alumni