It is 2007 at Chaminade University of Honolulu, the Sullivan Library construction is underway and the intercollegiate athletics department has brought in a new athletics director named William “Bill” Villa. Also new is a young soccer player from Ohio who joined a community that would change his life.  Nick Smith traveled 4,439 miles to play the sport he loved but never thought that he would find a new home.
 
Smith started playing soccer at age 5 and through high school. In addition to soccer, Smith participated in tennis and golf while attending Anthony Wayne High School in Whitehouse, Ohio, just outside of Toledo.
 
“When I was 14 or 15 I was a much better tennis player, I think I was ranked 20^th in the state but I just enjoyed soccer,” Smith recalled.
 
Smith was raised by Mark and Alisa Smith with younger sister, Caroline, in Northwest Ohio. Growing up, his father owned an ice cream shop that he worked at called Paradise Ice Cream. The inside was decorated in a Hawai‘i theme, possibly foretelling the destination of the future Silversword.
 
Coming out of high school Smith was not heavily recruited and was frustrated. He reached out to a coach named Bob Barry at Chaminade, a small Division II school in Honolulu. Barry started the men’s soccer program just a year prior in 2006 and it was student-athletes like Smith who helped grow the program into what it is today. 
 
“Bob gave me an opportunity when I wasn’t really getting the looks that I wanted,” Smith said. “It was an opportunity for a kid from Ohio to come out to Hawai‘i. That sounded good enough for me, and an opportunity to play soccer.
 
“I remember we wrapped it up in a week really. It was all pretty quick. I contacted Bob in late November, I made a trip out in December, and my mind was made up right away. I just loved it here. Bob and I connected really well,” he said.
 
Smith played midfield for the Swords for two seasons; the first under Barry and his second with Jason Kelly. It was in Smith’s second year where he really came into his own as one of the team’s captains, co-leading the team in goals and earning Pacific West Conference First Team honors. It was experiences on- and off-the-field that allowed Smith to fall in love with the CUH community.
 
“My closes friends are from meeting them here,” he said. “A couple guys from the soccer team. I remember trying to schedule classes favorably so you could get to the beach as much as possible. Favorite beach? Sandys!
 
“I had some really good professors. One was named Brother Jimmy Christiano; he taught an ethics course in my freshmen year and he was a guy who was brilliant. I remember leaving his class really challenged.
 
“I took a Tai Chee class. I had never seen or been exposed to anything like that in Ohio. That was just a really cool experience. I remember being out there in that courtyard looking over Diamond Head. It was really tranquil,” Smith said as he was delighted to hear that the class still continues today.
 
He could go on and on about his time at Chaminade which became home. Smith remembered walking around campus, meeting and experiencing people who were so diverse in personalities, beliefs and religions. “I realized there a good people out there everywhere.”
 
In his second year as the captain he experienced some difficult times as the team struggled. “We ended up being (2-18-1) but felt like we were really close. We lost a couple games in overtime, we lost a couple games late, we just weren’t quite there as a team, but I remember thinking Coach Kelly had the team heading in the right direction,” Smith reminisced.
 
Smith came from a background of winning. He was on the top high school team and the top club team in Ohio. “To experience what it’s like to be a part of a program that is building, that was a really good lesson for me. It teaches you how to deal with adversity,” Smith said. “Winning is fun and easy but you also have to learn how to lose. Learn how to pull the guys up and how to come out and play every day. I credit both my years at Chaminade. We didn’t stop showing up, stop caring, we continued to build and try and get better.”
 
Smith left CUH after two years in pursuit of his dream of playing soccer professionally. In the summer of 2009, he played on a semi-pro team that allowed college athletes keep their eligibility and was opened to a new opportunity.
 
“I was advised that I had to get myself in a better market than Hawai‘i. It had nothing to do with Chaminade. Scouts aren’t going to come to Hawai‘i to watch you play. I made the conscious decision to move to the Northeast,” he recalled.
 
Smith transferred to the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut had one of the top men’s soccer programs at the time. In his second year at UB, he was named team captain but in the fifth game of the season, he suffered the most adversity he had faced in his 21 years.
 
“It happened to be a 50/50 ball in the center circle. It was like three minutes into the game. I vividly remember the kid who was coming at me and he was much bigger than I was. I’m not a huge guy. I remember thinking ‘This guy’s really coming’ and he came through. (My leg) just snapped and you hear it. I knew right away that something wasn’t right,” Smith said, remembering the play that injured both his tibia and fibula.
 
The Purple Knights were on the road in the Boston area and Smith was lucky to have been injured in there or he may have lost his leg. He was rushed to the main hospital and was immediately taken care of. However, he was still in pain after the operation to repair his leg. After a test Smith was diagnosed with Compartment Syndrome which was not detected right away. The blood pressure in his leg was 10 times higher than normal.
 
“I ended up staying in the hospital for over a week as they drained blood for about seven to eight days to allow the pressure to go down,” Smith remembered. He had to clean the wound every so often and ended up getting a staph infection a month later which put him back in the hospital for another week. Smith’s chances to play soccer professionally had diminished and so had his love for the game.
 
A mentor to him through his good and bad times at UB was Professor Dave Benjamin. Smith was continually pushed by Dr. Benjamin to not settle, strive to be better and be involved around campus. “I wouldn’t be here today without him,” Smith said. “He sought the best in me. A true inspiration to me.”
 
In 2011 Nick graduated with two degrees from UB: one in Social Science with an emphasis in Political Science; the other was International Political Economy and Diplomacy. Smith also obtained a graduate certificate in Global Development and Peace Studies.
 
After graduating, Smith moved out to Southern California with the intention of working for a firm as a paralegal and start law school after a year. Smith found it difficult to find a job or a position as a paralegal but one day came across a posting for a soccer coach. He hadn’t really thought about soccer since his injury but joined Beckman High School as an assistant to Gordon Scott who introduced him to the coaching world. The two developed a futsal league called Touch Futsal.
 
After getting bit by the coaching bug Smith returned to the University of Bridgeport in 2012 as a graduate assistant in pursuit of a coaching career. As he continued coaching at UB and some soccer academies in the New England area, he realized that he needed an advanced degree to be successful in coaching and life.
 
“I wanted something that was going to be practical and when you walk out of a university with a degree in global development and peace, what job does that land you?” he remarked.
 
After three years, he graduated from the University of California Hastings Law School in 2016. “I chose Hastings because I knew I wanted to end up in California or Hawai‘i,” Smith said.
 
Through his connection of coaching in Hawai‘i at Riggers Soccer Club and Iolani School, he was recommended to the law firm of Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda, LLP in Honolulu and has worked for the last year as an associate.
 
In the end it was soccer that brought Nick back to Hawai‘i and a job at one of the most respected firms.
 
He returned to Chaminade as an assistant coach in ’16 to new head coach Jayson Abe who had just taken over as head coach of the Silverswords.
 
Smith has traveled all across the United States and has experienced many ups and downs in life. But his love for soccer and Hawai‘i is what has brought him home – two aspects of his life that were laid in foundation at Chaminade when a kid from Ohio got an opportunity to rise.