Name Sarah Shantz-Smiley | ||
Sarah-Shantz Smiley (born August 24, 1982 in Toronto, Ontario) is currently the head coach of the Iceland women's national ice hockey team.
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Playing career
Having played for the Windsor Lancers women's ice hockey program in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, Shantz-Smiley graduated in 2005. Following university, she competed with the now-defunct Montreal Axion in the original NWHL. During the 2005-06 NWHL season, Smiley appeared in 35 games, logging 4 goals (of which three were game-winning goals) and 4 assists for 8 points.
In 2008, Shantz-Smiley would play for a club team in Australia. Smiley has also played for the Iceland national women's team competing in Group B at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship Division II in Korea. During Iceland's first game of the event, Shantz-Smiley earned an assist on a goal scored by Birna Baldursdottir.
Coaching career
Having coached the Icelandic national women’s team since 2009, Shantz-Smiley also spent team coaching a youth team in the community of Akureyri in 2010.
In 2011, Iceland was ranked 29th in the world, and was the host country for the 2011 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships – Division IV. During that same year, Smiley worked with Deirdre Norman from the Women of Winter hockey organization in Toronto and helped launch a women’s division in the Iceland International Ice Hockey Tournament.
Personal
Smiley married in the summer of 2011 and now has Icelandic citizenship.