FEATURE

MacKinnon named High Performance Director

By Hockey NZ

Hockey New Zealand is pleased to announce Paul MacKinnon has been appointed as the organisation’s new High Performance Director.

MacKinnon has an extensive background in high performance environments including five years as High Performance Player Development Manager with the New Zealand Rugby Union as well as his current role as High Performance Manager at Auckland Cricket.

MacKinnon’s new role includes leading New Zealand’s senior, junior and regional talent programmes.

Hockey New Zealand’s aim is to have both national teams, the Vantage Black Sticks Men and Women, consistently winning medals at major world events.
 

“I was very excited to see this role come up, hockey is a growing sport made up of great people and values and it has a vibrant future,” MacKinnon said.

“I’m looking forward to helping the elite teams get to the next step as well as improving regional and local high performance systems and processes.

“There are a lot of good things happening in hockey both at national level and around the country so my role will be to identify any gaps and strengthen those.”

Hockey New Zealand chief executive Ian Francis said it was fantastic to be bringing onboard such a high calibre candidate.

“We were looking for a high performance professional with a background in sport and Paul certainly ticks all those boxes,” he said.

“We are thrilled to have Paul joining the team at Hockey New Zealand as we move on to the next phase of our progression towards medalling at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.”

MacKinnon officially begins in his role as High Performance Director on 18th April.