Early career Smith joined the England and Wales squad in 2004, soon after his first British title. His international debut followed the same year. He attended the European Championships in 2005, his first major ranking international. He beat the world-ranked number 6 player 6–0 in a pool game and went to the quarter-finals. In the team event, he helped England secure a silver medal. He had a disappointing second major in 2006, representing Great Britain, where he finished 13th and the team received a bronze at the World Championships in Rio. In 2007, he became a double world champion at the age of 18. Smith competed in Beijing in 2008 but only managed 13th individually. His team did much better, achieving a Paralympic Gold.
Mid-career After the Beijing World Championships, Sarah Nolan became Smith's coach in 2010. In 2009, Smith won his first European Championships to become a world-ranked number 1 for the first time. In 2010, Smith and his team lost in the quarter-finals to Tadtong of Thailand at the World Championships. Nolan started reworking how Smith played the game to suit the new style of play from Asia. In 2011, Nolan became Smith's permanent on-court assistant. In 2012, Smith won two medals at the Paralympics for the first time. Claire Morrison became Smith's coach while Nolan remained his on-court assistant in 2013. Smith took over as team captain and won double gold at the European Championships of that year. In 2014, Smith became world champion for a second time, winning the final with 8–2. In 2015, Smith captained the team to another European gold, and the team gained an automatic slot for the
Rio Paralympics. In 2016, Smith claimed bronze at the World Individual Championships in Beijing, having lost once in the pool stages and losing again to Tadtong. In the Rio Paralympics, Smith recovered from the disappointment of team failure and the loss of a must-win pool game to beat his long-term Thailand rival for the first time. After 8 years, Smith became an Individual Paralympic champion.
Later career Glynn Tromans took over coaching after the Rio Paralympics, and Smith won the European Championships for the third time, remaining undefeated during the whole 2017 season. In 2018, Smith reclaimed his world title at the World Championships in Liverpool, completing the "Triple Crown" by being the reigning Paralympic, European and World champion. In 2019, Smith defended his European title, automatically qualifying for Tokyo in the process.
Restart After the
COVID-19 pandemic postponed all competitions for a year, Smith's first competitive competition was the
Paralympics in Tokyo. After suffering atechnical issues in the pool, Smith found his top form for the quarters, semis and final matches. Smith played live on
C4 for the first time in front of millions of people to win the Gold and defend his title. At the end of the year, Smith won his 7th European title in
Seville, Spain. At the
2023 World Championships, Smith won a silver in both the team and individual events. He came 4th in the individual Boccia and 5th in the Mixed team, alongside
Claire Taggart and
Kayleigh Haggo in the
2024 Summer Paralympics.
Domestic boccia Smith has remained unbeaten at the annual English Nationals and GB Championships since 2004, clocking up a record of 20 British and 11 National titles. In 2016, Smith retired from the English Nationals to focus on his international career. ==Personal life==