TigerTurf Product Manager for Hockey and Black Sticks Vice-Captain, Darren Smith, announced his retirement from international hockey on April 27, 2006.

The announcement followed a successful New Zealand Black Sticks performance at the recent World Cup qualifying Tournament in Changzhou, China in April. Smith co-captained the team to an overall tournament win, a victory which secured the Black Sticks a spot at the World Cup in Germany in September.

Smith retires as the third highest capped Black Sticks Men's player ever with 212 internationals, behind Simon Towns (217 games) and Umesh Parag (214).

Smith says his hockey experience has been a definite asset in his role with TigerTurf.

"I understand hockey from a player's perspective.  I know the field conditions they want to play on, and our customers appreciate that insight.  Over the years, I have developed excellent contacts with all of the hockey associations across New Zealand, which puts me in a position to understand their needs and tailor solutions.”

"Darren is a high profile and well-respected player, which makes people take his advice and perspective on turf issues seriously,” says TigerTurf Sales and Marketing Manger, Phil Lewis.

"His specialist knowledge gives TigerTurf a huge advantage over competitors when it comes to the product development, installations and maintenance.” 

Smith made his debut as a 21-year-old against Spain at the 1995 Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia.  Under coaches Keith Gorringe, Robin Wilson and now Kevin Towns, he played almost all his hockey at inside-forward.

Smith battled several injuries in 2005 and is reluctant to put his body through what would be required for the Centralisation in mid-May and the World Cup in September.

"My biggest reason for retiring is that I didn't think I would enjoy centralisation again, and secondly I want to focus on my career as TigerTurf Product Manager for Hockey, and as a coach.”

Smith is Hockey New Zealand's Northern Regional High Performance Coach and keen to continue developing his coaching career.

He rates the 7-1 win over Pakistan at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, playing at the Athens Olympics and the recent Changzhou qualifying tournament win as the highlights of his playing career.