Teacher Austin Smith about hockey and the ISE(10-09-2019) |
I’m Austin Smith and I grew up in South Africa, Cape Town. My parents had a children’s home and we had a lot of space.. I have lived in Den Bosch since 2011 and have just a bought a house with my girlfriend. As you might know I play professional hockey, so when I joined the hockey team in Den Bosch as a defender, I decided to live nearby. When I was a little boy, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and a professional hockey player. In my Primary School my coach/teacher M...urray Anderson inspired me immensely. I went to University in South Africa, then in England I started my teaching career at a secondary school where I was also the director of hockey. Naturally I combined my teacher with a lot of hockey training hours. During the final year of my studies I decided to return to Den Bosch. My first meeting with my new school was quite funny. In England teachers wore black suits. So I made sure I wore a black suit too when I had my first appointment with Marcella Watts (Head of Secondary). The clothing style turned out to be very different. Not a problem for me, but good to know. I felt a bit overdressed…… In addition to my hockey career for which I train 5 days a week, I work for a travel organization and do volunteer work and… yes, this travel organization involves hockey as well. I’m the link between South African schools who want to visit the Netherlands. ??Good to know: Austin’s will play hockey in Tokyo during the Olympic Games in 2020. Of course we wish him good luck and will of course watch the tournament! |
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