Shari Smart is taking maternity leave for what would be her fifth season as head coach of the university of Hawai`i Rainbow Wahine Water Polo team. Smart is taking the year off to care for her third child who was born on January 12.
Smart led the Wahine to an astonishing fourth place national finish in the program’s very first season as a varsity sport in 1998. The Wahine have qualified for the Nationals and finished in the Top 10 each year since.
Recruiting has been a key in the success of the program. Smart and assistant coach Cindy Rote have left no stone unturned. This year’s team includes players from the Netherlands and eight states spanning the United States from Hawai`i to Illinois to Florida.
Smart has been with the program since its beginning and last year saw five members of her first freshman class take a rite of passage. Seniors Mandy Crawford, Eko Lapp, Amy Morrow, Andy Nishioka and Sarah Shepard were all part of the inaugural 1998 squad and played their final season for the Wahine in 2001.
“I’m really happy for them,” Smart said. “All of them are doing well academically and will graduate in four to five years. It’s been a fun group to coach and I love to see the way they’ve grown these past four years.”
Smart joined the coaching ranks to help influence young people and to remain close to the sport she loves. Like most water polo players, Smart began as a swimmer and was introduced to the sport by a club coach as a means of diversion. But she and the rest of the team became hooked on the new sport.
Smart continued to pursue water polo, and eventually went on to start a UC Santa Barbara. She was also named to the Senior National B team and later the Senior A Team.
As a working mother, Smart must balance a heavy workload with her own family and although taking the year off Smart said she will still be involved with team on a smaller scale.
Smart was born in Oakland, Calif., and moved to Hawai`i at the age of two. A 1981 graduate of Kaiser High School, Smart graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1985 with emphasis on ergonomics and health education, as well as a minor in coaching. After returning to Hawai`i, Smart attended UH and earned a professional diploma in health education.
Smart lives in Hawai`i Kai with her husband, Jim, and two sons, Jack and Jay, and newborn daughter Sierra. She enjoys surfing, hiking and coaching a 12-and-under water polo team at the O`ahu Club.
