Each Sunday during the 2017-18 school year, the Carson-Newman athletic communications department will shine a spotlight on a current or former Carson-Newman student-athlete to tell a tale of life outside of his or her respective sport. This is Summer Smith's story.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Coming to Carson-Newman in 2015 as a freshman member of the women's golf team was an exciting time for Summer Smith, however the journey she ended up taking was not what she envisioned.
Smith came to Mossy Creek from Halls High School where she was a 2012 district champion for the Red Devils and finished in the top-10 three out of her four years in the district tournament. Prepared to continue her career on the greens as a student-athlete at C-N, injuries took their toll, paving the way for her to stay involved in the sport from a different vantage point – serving as a game manager.
"My senior year of high school, I dislocated my knee and I really wasn't fully prepared and healed for freshman year," Smith said. "Freshman year came around, I was fine, but then I wasn't fully at my capability to play golf. Sophomore year was where everything sort of started going downhill.
"Of course, when you come into college, you think, 'Wow, I signed, I'm about to play golf for four years,' but God had a different plan for me, and, honestly, I just had to learn to run with the curveballs."
Smith had suffered stomach issues in her freshman year, hindering her ability to truly take to the greens for valuable playing time aside from the two events she took part in that season. A knee injury in the Christmas period of her sophomore year forced her to take a step back from the sport.
Head coach Suzanne Strudwick had known Smith for a number of years before she signed with the Eagles. That prior knowledge of the Knoxville, Tenn. native's mental and physical drive as an athlete motivated her to give Smith the game manager role, allowing her to still stay involved.
"I cried tears of joy because I thought that I was about to be done because the surgery is not like a normal ACL or MCL; it takes a year of recovery, so I thought I was pretty much done with my sports career in college," Smith said. "When she came up with the idea, I thanked her and was so excited to be able to stick around a sport that I love and has always been a big part of my life."
Strudwick praises Smith for her sensibility and the calming effect she has on the freshmen who tend to look at her example for how to go through their first year with the team.
"It was so evident from her freshman year that her maturity level was at a way more advanced level than where most freshmen are going to be," Strudwick mentioned. "For me, having her still be a part of the team, because she had already become an integral part through practicing and playing, was important so I wanted to keep that going."
As game manager, Smith's primary duty is to work directly with the freshmen, following them on the course to provide insight and give advice on specific shots while helping them work through the game visually. Her presence at events alleviates Strudwick's pressure to look after all of the competitors, allowing the coach to watch on and follow along as the upperclassmen advance on the greens.
Smith has been a student of the sport her entire life as her grandfather, Roy, and father, Travis, were both golfers at Cumberland College. Her father's tutelage has been extremely beneficial, most notably in how she looks at a swing and provide assistance in decision making.
"I think this move has shone a spotlight for her on the mistakes and the things she would focus on as a player," Strudwick said. "Seeing everything play out in front of her and the mistakes that players are making that she also used to make has now given her this tremendous perspective on her own game. Once she does start playing, her physical ability may not be where it was, but her mental game will be tremendous because of that extra coaching perspective."
Aside from course management, her position also gives her the opportunity to serve as a leader on the team alongside head captain senior Elizabeth England and fellow co-captain junior Taylor Hayes.
"Each of them bring their own skill," Strudwick mentioned of the trio. "It's very unusual to find all the facets that you want in a team leader in one person, and so I started naming co-captains about three years ago.
"Unless you have a really special person who embodies all of these leadership traits, it is a joint role. It's not something that one person can take on because every person is gifted in different areas and we want all of those gifts to shine."
Smith is the first player that Strudwick has ever made a game manager while still being a member of the squad. Taking on a position that involved coaching her peers was daunting for the junior.
"You always see them as teammates, and you still do, but it's about wondering if they're going to respect me, but the girls were great about adjusting to it," Smith mentioned. "I just had to be confident in my role and know that I'm here to help them. It was different, but it was definitely a good different because I have learned how to be a better golfer through helping them improve their game."
That self-reflection through coaching has been one of the biggest assets for her, allowing her to keep her mental game strong despite yearning to get back on the course. Through coaching her teammates, she has found that she has the ability to encourage others while growing in patience and poise.
While she has gotten medical permission to start swinging again, she is still not fully prepared physically to make her return to the greens, but she is closer now than she has been in nearly the past two years.
"A few months ago, I was on crutches and could not move, so everything I go through is a step," Smith said. "Honestly, I think to myself, 'Did this really happen?' because playing golf has taught me how to push through since you're going to have bad and good days. That's a blessing of playing sports too because I'm driven and capable of getting through obstacles."
Her time away from playing will give her extra eligibility once she is able to play again. The business major views her present adversity as a way to learn how to be a more effective leader and manager in terms of handling any negative events in a positive manner.
"She's adapted from taking her competitiveness and wanting to play to keep her from being down in the dumps," Strudwick mentioned. "I haven't heard her complain once and that's a testimony to her resilience, grit and passion for what she sees in this team. She has been a role model for not being down and negative about her circumstance and saying, 'Hey, God had this plan for me at one point but now here's another plan, and I'm really embracing this role.'"
Strudwick says she can almost see a new career path as a coach being paved for the junior through this experience, a role Smith even mentions that she could potentially see herself taking at the high school level somewhere down the road.
No matter the next step, she is adamant about giving her trust to God's plans.
"I hope I'm able to get back to golf and keep doing what I love," Smith shared. "I read this piece in my devotion one day and it's helped me through this situation – 'No matter what happens, I can find joy because my hope is not in this word or in my circumstances. My hope is in the Lord.'"
"I don't know what my future holds but I'm praying about it, and I know God will lead me where I need to be."
