Valerie Christine Smith (born 29 July 1965) is an international

lawn bowler Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

from New Zealand.

Bowls career

World Championships

Smith won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the 2004 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

before winning three medals four years later at the

2008 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 2008 World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at the Burnside Bowling Club in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 12 to 24 January 2008. Safuan Said won the men's singles Gold. New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the s ...

in the singles and pairs

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

and team event (silver medal) in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. At the 2012 World Outdoor Bowls Championship, Smith won two silver medals in the singles and pairs respectively. In 2016, she won a bronze medal in the fours at the

2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 2016 World Outdoor Bowls Championship was held at the Burnside Bowling Club in Avonhead, Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban a ...

with Angela Boyd,

Katelyn Inch Katelyn Inch (born 19 August 1995) is a New Zealand international lawn bowler. She reached a career high ranking of world number 14 in June 2024. Bowls career World Championships Inch was born in Rangiora and brought up in Oxford, New Zealand ...

and Kirsten Edwards. In 2020, she was selected for the 2020 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Australia but the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2023, she was selected as part of the team to represent New Zealand at the

2023 World Outdoor Bowls Championship The 2023 World Outdoor Bowls Championship is the 14th edition of the World Bowls Championship, held on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia from 29 August to 10 September. The event was long-awaited by the sport because the 2020 World Out ...

. She participated in the women's triples and the women's fours events. In the fours, her team won the bronze medal. One week later in the triples (partnering Tayla Bruce and Leeane Poulson), the team won the group undefeated before winning a tense quarter final against Malaysia and a semi final against Canada. In the final they met Australia, losing 16–9 but claiming the silver medal.

Commonwealth Games

Smith competed at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

in Melbourne, the women's triples competition and at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, where she won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the women's singles competition. She competed at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

as part of the women's pairs and women's fours teams. She won a

in the women's fours events alongside teammates Mandy Boyd,

Selina Goddard Selina Goddard (sometimes called Selina Smith; born 23 July 1994) is a New Zealand international lawn bowls player, playing out of Takapuna Bowling Club. She reached a career high ranking of world number 6 in September 2024. Bowls career Godda ...

and Amy McIlroy. She was selected as part of the New Zealand team for the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

on the Gold Coast in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. In 2022, she competed in the women's triples and the Women's fours at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

. In both the triples and the fours she secured a bronze medal.

Asia Pacific

Smith has won seven medals at the

Asia Pacific Bowls Championships The Asia Pacific Bowls Championships formerly the Pacific Rim Championships was a lawn bowling competition held between national bowls organisations in the Asia Pacific region. The event was inaugurated in 1985, and it was initially held every t ...

including four golds, the latest gold being at the 2019 Asia Pacific Bowls Championships in the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

National

In addition to her international successes Smith has won eight titles at the

New Zealand National Bowls Championships The New Zealand National Bowls Championships is organised by Bowls New Zealand. Bowls was introduced in New Zealand in 1861 but the first national championships were not held until 1914. Men's singles Men's pairs Men's fours Women ...

. She won the pairs four times in 2004 and 2011 (with Jo Edwards) and 2019 and 2021 (with Lisa Prideaux) and the fours in 2010, 2017, 2023 and 2025.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Val 1965 births Living people New Zealand female bowls players Bowls World Champions Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Bowls players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Bowls players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in lawn bowls Commonwealth Games silver medallists in lawn bowls