Olympic Saugus Graduate

Could you imagine knowing an olympian graduated from your highschool? David Smith, a Saugus highschool graduate is a 4-time Olympian and 2-time Olympic medalist. Smith joined the U.S. olympic team in 2009. Smith’s position in volleyball is middle blocker on the Olympic team, World League, and his Professional team. After he graduated from Saugus high school, he graduated from UC Irvine in 2006-2007.  David Smith was a 2 sport athlete and was focused on soccer mostly until his senior year. 

He also was born with mild-severe hearing loss, which requires him to wear a hearing aid off and on the court. Smith says that it doesn’t affect his way of playing but one time the ball hit him and his hearing aid flew across the court. He said that he ran to quickly pick it up before anybody could step on it. Smith reads lips to understand his teammates and coach if he does not have his hearing aids in. 

We asked a couple of people to interview them that personally knew David Smith. First we interviewed Saugus girls volleyball coach, Zachary Ambrose. Zachary Ambrose coached David Smith his senior year of high school. Zachary says he is honored to have been a highschool coach of someone who has made an olympic team. Ambrose is proud of all David Smith, yet does not take credit for his accomplishments. 

  We also interviewed David Smith himself and asked him a few questions. I asked him what was his most difficult part of getting to where he is at this moment. He replied and said that the most difficult part was the time of getting to where he is now. It took Smith years of commitment and hard work. He also discovered that there are always challenges ahead of him even when you think it’s an endgame. 

On the topic of advice he would give to students would be, “I think the biggest piece of advice I would give any student is don’t be afraid of failure. Obviously volleyball has worked out really well for me, but there are many moments along the way, both inside and outside of volleyball, where I have had to pick myself up off the ground and keep moving forward.” This shows that perseverance is necessary when wanting to achieve a goal.

I asked him if his games ever get in the way of family. He replied and said that everything requires a big sacrifice and that he hasn’t really been able to spend time with family because of his career. Smith says that he hasn’t even spent major holidays with his siblings and parents in over 15 years. This has a big impact on his life and everyone should know the sacrifices of high level athletics.

Smith told me who he thought helped him most throughout his career, saying that his family has for sure helped him through his entire career and helped him. They give him the courage and the push he needs to persevere. For my fifth and final question I asked David what was his best experience and he replied with “It’s pretty hard to top the feeling after the last ball goes down and you are officially an Olympic medalist.”

David Smith is a great athlete and person all together and has a great story to tell. His story reminds us all that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, or what high school you go to; all that matters is the work you put in and your dedication. Stay encouraged and driven, Saugus, just like David Smith!