New Zealand hockey exodus continues as high-performance director leaves

The Black Sticks stand for the anthems ahead of an FIH Pro League game. Photosport

Hockey New Zealand high-performance director Paul MacKinnon has left his role after a turbulent and controversial three years.

Hockey NZ has confirmed MacKinnon has resigned, the latest in a long line of departures since the Herald reported on continuing problems in the women's Black Sticks programme.

A spate of high-profile defections in recent months include the retirements of Brooke Neal and Gemma McCaw 12 months out from the Olympics.

Assistant coach Katie Glynn also left the programme, joining up with former coach Mark Hager in England.

There have also been reports of a fractured squad struggling to deal with the fallout associated with the departure of Mark Hager. Chief executive Ian Francis also resigned in July.

Hockey NZ has denied the player departures were linked to any issues highlighted in these reports, but High Performance Sport New Zealand confirmed to the Herald in May there were "ongoing issues within the [women's] high-performance set-up".

The Weekend Herald in May reported that issues within the camp stemmed from findings of the Dew Report, commissioned shortly before Hager's departure in January last year, which pointed to a negative environment.

It is understood MacKinnon was resistant to suggestions the programme needed to change.

The review was launched after Hager, a former Australian international, accidentally sent an email to the entire team, naming and shaming individual players for their performance and effort, after finishing 11th at the women's World Cup.

Three months earlier, they had won gold at the Commonwealth Games.

In May, sources told the Herald the situation within the team was "faulty" and that some members of the squad and management team were actively working against changes that current coach Graham Shaw has been trying to implement.

The same sources also signalled that well-known players were considering retirement because of concerns with the environment, a warning that turned out to be prescient.