Justine Smethurst (born January 1987 in Melbourne) is an Australian softball player. She is a pitcher and plays club softball in the Glen Waverley Softball Association. She has represented Victoria on a variety of different teams and competed at the national championships several times, winning one in 2001. She played for the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

softball team in 2006 and 2007. She has been a member of the senior Australia women's national softball team, winning a bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. She is trying to gain a spot on the roster to compete at the 2012 ISF XIII Women's World Championships.

Personal

Smethurst was born in January 1987 in Melbourne, Victoria. Her mother and sister both played softball. Both also went on to coach softball. She attended

Shelford Anglican Girls' School Shelford may refer to: Places * Shelford, Nottinghamshire, village in Nottinghamshire, England * Shelford, Victoria, Australia * Shelford, Warwickshire, List of United Kingdom locations: Sg-Sh#She, location in England * Great Shelford, village in C ...

and graduated in 2004. She learned Japanese in school. One of her hobbies is kayaking. In 2002, she was living in

East Brighton, Victoria Brighton East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Bayside and Glen Eira local government areas. Brighton East recorded a population of 16,75 ...

. She attended the

, enrolling in 2005 and majoring in psychology. While attending the university, she acquired an American accent.

Softball

Smethurst is a pitcher. While she started playing before she was twelve, she did not move into the pitching position until she was that age. She plays club softball in the

Glen Waverley Softball Association A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. The word is Goidelic in origin: ''gleann'' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, ''glion'' in Manx. ...

. In 2001, she was a member of the Victorian School Girls' Team. In 2002, as a fifteen-year-old, she was training for softball around fifteen hours a week. In 2005 and 2006, she had a softball scholarship with the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

. In 2008, she had a scholarship with and played for the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

team.

State team

Smethurst has represented Victoria on a variety of different teams. She has represented Victoria as a member of the U13, U14 and U16 teams at the national championships. In 2001 and 2002, as a member of the junior team, she represented Victoria at the national championships. Her team won in 2001. She represented Victoria at the national championships in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, commuting from Hawaii in order to play with the side.

University team

Smethurst played for the

softball team in 2006 and 2007, before taking a break from the university team in order to try to secure a spot on the national team for the

. She had a scholarship at the university to play softball.

Senior national team

Smethurst has been a member of the senior Australia women's national softball team. In 2005, she toured US, Canada and Japan with the national team. She did not have an appearance on that national team from late 2005 to mid-2008.

. The 2008 Olympic Games were her first Olympics. She won a bronze medal at the

. She participated in the Adelaide Olympian parade in 2008. She represented Australia at the 2009 World Cup, where she pitched in the game against Italy that Australia won 8–0. She kept batters hitless until the fifth inning. In 2011, she was a member of the Australian side that competed at the

World Cup of Softball The USA Softball International Cup previously known as the World Cup of Softball, was an annual women's softball tournament. The first eight World Cups were held at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The competition is gover ...

. She played in game at the Cup against the United States where Australia lost 5–2. It was her second loss on the day, also having played in a game where Australia lost to Japan. She is a member of the 2012 Australia women's national softball team and is, playing in the 2012 ISF XIII Women's World Championships (1 July 2012).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smethurst, Justine 1987 births Living people Japan Diamond Softball League players Hawaii Rainbow Wahine softball players Australian softball players Olympic softball players for Australia Softball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Olympic medalists in softball Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Melbourne Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States 21st-century Australian sportswomen