The deputy principal first left the school in 2002 as a year 13 leaver and will today leave the school having been a staff member for the past nine years.
He has been the school’s deputy principal for the last four years having been acting deputy in 2021.
Mr Smith admitted he had mixed emotions about leaving, but said it was a privilege to have taught at the school.
"It probably hasn’t quite sunk in yet," he said.
"I’ve had a lot to do with the school over the years, obviously being a past pupil.
"There’s definitely aspects of it you’ll miss, the collegiality at school here is great and there’s some fantastic kids.
"Seeing the kids having opportunities and reaching their potential in any field — whether it’s academics or extracurricular — is a cool aspect."
St Kevin’s was in a healthy position, he said.
"We’ve got plenty of numbers. The year 9s coming through in the last couple of years with enrolments, we’ve had waiting lists of 30-40 which is a problem but it’s a good problem to have."
Mr Smith became the head of physical education and sport in 2016, having previously taught at Southland Boys’ High School.
"My wife and I were looking at coming back just with Louis, our first born, and our family were all here and the timing was just perfect."
Mr Smith represented the New Zealand under-19 cricket team at the 2004 Under-19 World Cup and went on to play 45 matches for the Otago Volts between 2005 right up until early 2016, when he started at St Kevin’s.
"I had a phone call from Justin Fowler in 2015 probably about two or three days after I accepted the job.
"It was a no-brainer. Cricket is in my blood and at that stage there was not a lot of cricket at the school."
Numbers were limited and while they were still fielding a first XI for interschool matches "for a couple of years there they were pretty one-sided".
"It was either 2017 or 2018, we had a good intake of year 9s and we built from there."
The team rejoined the Borton Cup in at the end of 2019 as a standalone team.
They quickly proved they belonged in the grade as they made back-to-back finals in 2021 and 2022, but unfortunately, came off second best.
The following season, however, they could not be denied, beating Union by two wickets in the penultimate over.
It was their first cup win since 1999, when Mr Smith was a student himself.
"That was a cool moment, school teams don’t often get that opportunity.
"It was third time lucky."
Mr Smith credited Mr Fowler as also being heavily influential.
"I wouldn’t say it’s just down to me. I’ve had great support from Justin and for the last few years we’ve been lucky to have Jacob Fowler and Liam Direen as player-coaches.
"Having young guys like that, they’re staying in the community and they’re wanting to give back to sport.
"I feel like stepping aside, it’s in good hands with having them there."
The school now has three teams and plenty of students have gone on to represent North Otago and Otago at age group representative tournaments.
Mr Smith has also been a key figure in adding interschool fixtures to the playing calendar as well as making the school’s visits to Willows Cricket Club an annual event.
For him, the push to grow the game at St Kevin’s was about more that just results on the field.
"It’s not just about matches or games of cricket. The kids learn so much in terms of interpersonal skills when they’re playing team sports.
"We just wanted to give kids opportunities at school, no matter what the sport."
In the new year, Mr Smith will join his wife Melissa in coaching the youth sport academies attached to her nutrition business Melissa Smith Total Well Being.
"She’s been flat-out this year. So, we’ve been having some discussions over the last few months, about how we can make it work as a family, and came to the solution of me moving in to give her a hand."
He has been coaching part-time throughout 2025 but will move into a full-time role and will look after the strength and conditioning aspect of the academies.
After being involved with St Kevin’s almost 15 years, Mr Smith said there could be more in the future.
"I’ll be around at some point in time, with my kids coming through and look to give back again at some stage."
