Hockey New Zealand’s exodus of both players and staff has continued with high performance director Paul MacKinnon resigning from his post, The Hockey Paper understands.
Hockey NZ’s website had no mention of MacKinnon’s post on its staff roster this week and the governing body has yet to respond to this newspaper’s request to confirm the departure of MacKinnon.
MacKinnon joined Hockey NZ in April 2017 after high performance stints in rugby and cricket. His role in hockey comprised overseeing New Zealand’s senior, junior and regional talent programmes.
MacKinnon is the fifth high-profile departure to leave Hockey NZ in recent months and follows Ian Francis’ decision to leave his role as chief executive in October.
It also follows a series of departures in the women’s programme, instigated by the exit of coach Mark Hager to the GB programme.
This led to veteran players Gemma McCaw and Brooke Neal retiring from international hockey and, more recently, assistant coach Katie Glynn leaving the squad to join the Australian in the UK.
Since the much publicised independent review and Hager leaving his role after a successful decade in charge, there have been several media reports of a fractious environment within the squad.
