Pioneer in her field
Smith provides women’s soccer a healthy kick
Borrowing on his college coaching experience, Boston Breakers president and general manager Joe Cummings recruited Kelly Smith over dinner in London. Before the two-time finalist for FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year would commit to the Breakers, she needed to know more about the city, the team, and the new Women’s Professional Soccer league.
Smith required convincing.
“He really sold it to me,’’ said Smith. “That dinner’s pretty much why I came. It made me feel really welcome. I knew I’d be taken care of and have nothing to worry about. I knew it’d be easy to settle in.’’
Make no mistake, ego played no part. Smith is far from a prima donna who needs to feel the love. Loyalty to her English club, Arsenal Ladies, and English national team commitments initially made Smith hesitant to decamp for Boston.
For Cummings, Smith needed to be on the Breakers’ roster when the inaugural season started. And his determination to sign the star forward has been rewarded. Entering tonight’s home game against Sky Blue FC, Smith leads third-place Boston in goals (5) and shots (36), as well as fouls caused (26), fouls suffered (36), and yellow cards (3).
“Kelly Smith is a game changer and she needn’t do that by scoring a goal,’’ said Cummings. “She can do it by the attention that teams need to give her when she’s on the field. She can do it with a free kick. Good players, great players you can find. But game changers you don’t find very often.’’
Smith is the kind of player you build a team around. She possesses a natural feel for the game, the ability to handle pressure from multiple defenders and maintain possession, a crafty dribble, and a nasty streak. She takes all competition personally and tackles hard. When commentators say she plays like a man, Smith takes it as a compliment. Top male soccer players in the English Premier League respect her game, sometimes e-mailing praise after Smith wins big matches for England.
But for all her aggressiveness and skill on the field, Smith is laid-back, quiet, and humble away from the action. Mention her many soccer accomplishments and she looks downward, dismissing them with nervous laughter. Traveling to Zurich for the 2008 FIFA awards gala as an honoree, Smith found herself on a plane and in a VIP car with Pele. She never mustered the courage to talk to him.
“I was a bit shy,’’ said Smith. “I was gobsmacked that I was sitting right across from Pele.’’
The shyness and self-effacing demeanor combined with brilliance on the field draws comparisons to Mia Hamm. Naturally, Smith doesn’t see any similarities, placing Hamm on the pedestal where the American superstar always felt uncomfortable.
But with England now committed to improving and growing women’s soccer, Smith, 30, is following a career path increasingly reminiscent of the one Hamm tread.
“We’d be out shopping in a mall [in England] and people would be tapping themselves and saying, ‘Oh, my God, that’s Kelly Smith,’ ’’ said Breakers defender Alex Scott, who also plays with Smith on the English national team. “Kelly is so laid-back, she takes it in stride. But everybody recognizes the talent she has. If she was male, she could be a top male athlete, a professional footballer.’’
Instead, the 5-foot-6-inch blonde is the reluctant face of English women’s soccer. Queen Elizabeth II named her a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2008 for services to soccer. (It is the same category of honors that bestow knighthoods on English citizens.) Smith drew Revolution coach Steve Nicol and assistant Paul Mariner to a recent Breakers game. Sports fame earned Smith a spot on the English version of Gladiators for “Battle of the Athletes.’’ (She won.) Now, most significantly, more young girls on both sides of the Atlantic want to play soccer like her.
“All you used to hear about was Mia,’’ said Smith. “I just think I’m seen as one of the top players, very skillful, hard-working, loves the game, and loves playing for England. I don’t really see myself as being that figurehead . . . I’m just little old me. I’m Kelly from Watford.’’
“I was just staring at the Queen and [saying to myself], ‘I’m looking at the Queen right now,’ ’’ said Smith. “When I came out of it, the whole occasion, I just felt really overwhelmed. You just look back on your career and all the highs and lows that you’ve been through and who’s supported you throughout those times.’’
From as far back as Smith remembers, she juggled a ball at her feet. Soccer always came naturally and captivated her. Smith played soccer with the boys at school and watched top-level male competition on television, believing the game was just as much her English birthright as anyone else’s. Growing up 30 minutes north of London, she played on boys’ teams and stood out as a forward.
Playing with the boys made perfect sense to a 10-year-old girl who dreamed of competing for the national team. But it made no sense to the parents of opposing players. They didn’t want their sons playing against a girl as talented as Smith. They worried about embarrassment and threatened to forfeit games if Smith took the field. For that reason, Smith was kicked off two boys’ teams.
“That was heartbreaking for me,’’ said Smith. “My dad had to say, ‘Kelly, you can’t play anymore because you’re a girl.’ ’’
Smith joined a succession of competitive girls’ teams in her early teens. She gained experience and skills, but never lost the aggressive tactics she learned from playing with boys. Smith will hold off opponents with an arm raised stiffly to the side. Or she will give an opponent a little tug or nudge to gain an advantage.
“I call it playing smart,’’ said Smith. “If you can get away with it and the ref doesn’t see it, then why not? It goes on in the men’s game. So, it’s just the game. A lot of American players don’t know how to use their body as well as some of our England players do because we grow up with the sport. We watch it on TV all the time, so we know what we can get away with and probably what we can’t.’’
The tactical tricks don’t go unnoticed by Breakers teammate Kristine Lilly, who smiles recalling a nudge here, a tug there, and the innocent expression that always crosses Smith’s face afterward. For Lilly, it’s part of the fun of playing with someone as talented and knowledgeable about the game as Smith. Lilly lists Smith among the great female soccer players. Hamm. Michelle Akers. Marta. Maren Meinert.
“Great players have something that is extraordinary,’’ said Lilly. “Kelly’s ability to keep the ball, maintain the ball, is probably her biggest strength. You know she’s going to get you the ball if you make a run. She’s a lot of fun to play with because she knows the game. We’re on the same wavelength a lot.’’
“The emotion kind of took over me and I just didn’t know what I was doing,’’ said Smith. “It was such a dream of mine to play in the World Cup. It was all heat of the moment.’’
The uncharacteristically dramatic gesture celebrated more than goals. It toasted England’s return to the biggest stage in women’s soccer after a 12-year absence. It symbolized the passion for women’s soccer Smith hoped to inspire back home.
Called up to the national team at 16, Smith has felt a sense of responsibility for advancing women’s soccer in England. She leads the national team in goals with 34, and if not for a torn anterior cruciate ligament, stress fracture in her foot, and broken leg, she would also lead in international appearances.
“Kelly has the ability to do all the things you want to see professional soccer players do and she shows it on a regular basis,’’ said Nicol. “That separates her from the majority of players, particularly women around the world. It doesn’t matter if you put the best defender in the league or the worst [on her]. They’re not going to stop her from doing her stuff. That’s the kind of ability she has.’’
Paradoxically, Smith signed with the Breakers to increase English interest in women’s soccer and garner more respect for the game back home. To improve, top international players need to play top-level soccer between major international tournaments. The WPS rightfully bills itself as showcasing the best women’s soccer and best women’s players in the world.
Smith’s search for top competition first brought her to the US and Seton Hall in 1997, then to the Philadelphia Charge in the WUSA. During three seasons with Seton Hall, Smith set school records for goals (76) and points (174) in 51 games. She still holds NCAA records for career goals (1.49) and points (3.41) per game. When Seton Hall retired her number, she became the first non-basketball player at the school to receive that honor.
“There’s respect through all levels of the game for her,’’ said Breakers coach Tony DiCicco. “An international player who’s playing on [Manchester] United respects her as a player. Not a female player, as a player. In England, they need that because as enlightened as we think their society is, they’re backwards as far as really giving the girls and the women the opportunity to play this game. The Scandinavian countries, Germany, the US, are way ahead of them, but they’re changing attitudes a person at a time.’’
Whether selling a city or a country on women’s soccer, it helps to have a game changer.
Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com. 