He was being interviewed on the Australian Missionary News IPTV in Melbourne, by anchorman Mark Tronson.
Andrew Smith was born in Wollongong, where his father, Eric, played Hockey for St Matthews and the Illawarra Rep. Team, and one of his team-mates was Mark Tronson. Young Andrew played for various junior hockey teams as Eric Smith's work took the family from Wollongong to Canberra, back to Wollongong, then to Newcastle.
It was in there that Andrew's hockey came to be noticed, and he was selected to play in the NSW Primary School team and then in the NSW Under 13 team.
In 1990 the family relocated to Melbourne, where he was subsequently selected for the Victorian Vikings team in 1998 in the Australian Hockey League (AHL). Although he retired from national competitions last year, he continues to play for the Melbourne club Doncaster, which has regularly won the local competition.
The amazing prowess of Andrew Smith was seen in 2002 and 2003 when he was the top goal scorer in the AHL for both those years: his scores have not yet been bettered. As well as being a highly skilled forward goal attack, Andrew was a specialist penalty corner flicker, and it was from that position that many of his goals came. You can notice this tactic even now, if you watch the Kookaburras play.
In 2002, that Andrew debuted for the Kookaburras in Adelaide and proud parents Eric and Alyson flew to watch their son play for Australia. Although he was out injured for some important matches, his wins with the Kookaburras in the Champions Trophy in 2005 and 2008 were very special. This is a Trophy contested each year by the top six hockey nations - Australia has never been out of this competition.
Despite all this success, Andrew was on the outer when it came to Olympic and Commonwealth Games selections. He was reserve in the Athens Olympics in 2004 when the team won Gold, he was out of the 2006 Commonwealth Games team played in his home town of Melbourne, and he was reserve for the Beijing Olympic team in 2008.
"In Beijing, myself and the other reserve were not permitted to be in the Olympic village but nevertheless we were required to train with the Olympic squad for any eventuality," Andrew explained. "Then in the final pool game against England, forward Grant Schubert was injured in the final minute of the match and I got my call-up notice."
At the presentation of his Olympic hockey gear and ring, Coach Barry Dancer welcomed Andrew to the squad and into the Olympic Village with the words that he had a commitment and dedication to the team which he regarded very highly; a team focus.
This time, Andrew recognised he was the Groom and not the Best Man. His first game was the semi-,final which they lost to Spain but they went on to win the Bronze against the Dutch 6-2.
Mark Tronson asked Andrew Smith, as a man of Christian commitment with Salvation faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, what comments he might wish to make for young people.
Andrew Smith explained, that Jesus Christ was a focus in every part of his life. He recognised that for him, God is in control in both good and bad experiences, and there will be challenging times.
He counsels young people that the Lord knows what we are all going through, and therefore knows what is good for us, so there is a need to trust in the Lord, regardless. Andrew said that he does not need to control every part of his life, he needs to turn that over to the Lord. He suggests that Faith means just this – that you don't have to do it all yourself. Trust Jesus!
This Australian Missionary News IPTV interview by anchorman Mark Tronson of Andrew Smith can be viewed at either
tv.bushorchestra.com/Sport/videopages/andrew_smith.htmlOR www.youtube.com/user/marktronson#p/u/10/bHyMmGw-cQQ