Paul Ackerley, Women’s hockey coach of New Zealand passes away
Paul Ackerley, the former Olympian and New Zealand’s women hockey coach passed away on Tuesday in Wellington, New Zealand. After a short illness, he was kicked the bucket in a hospital situated in Wellington at the age of 61.
Ackerley was part of the Black Sticks squad that captured the gold medal in the Olympic Games held in Montreal back in 1976. They outplayed their arch-rival, Australia, by 1-0 in the finals of the mega games to clinch the title.
As part of the Olympic-winning squad, he was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame back in 1990. He coached the women squad of New Zealand for six years guiding them to win a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He obtained some 25 caps for his side in the international hockey. He also served Sports and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) as a Coaching and Volunteer Advisor.
Peter Miskimmin, the Chief Executive of the SPARC, while speaking to the media said that they were deprived of the most respected and friendly colleague. In a shocking state, he expressed that the deceased coach was real asset of the SPARC. It was not the
only loss of SPARC, but the entire sports community would feel impacts of his death, he added.
Commenting on the life of Ackerley, the Chief Executive opined that the deceased had earned lot of successes in his professional career. He not only coached the national players, but spread his vast experience and skills among the other coaches as well in
the country, he maintained.
Miskimmin further stated that the former Olympian was ardent of sport and introduced the national vision in the coaching programmes. He stated, “Paul was passionate about sport and particularly coaching. Part of the legacy he leaves is a national vision
around the importance of coaching and the importance of developing coaches.”
Director of the Greater Auckland Coaching Unit, Andy Rogers, was a close friend of Ackerley and worked together for several years. He expressed his friend’s life saying that Ackerley was a real modest and charming leader, who obtained the highest position
in the sport community.
Rogers further said that the knowledge and fervour of Ackerley to restore the coaching importance will stay long in the minds of sport lovers. The former coach will remain forever in the hearts of hockey fans across the country, he added.
John Reid, the General Manager of the SPARC, applauded the role of the Ackerley saying that he played significant role in the development of the game. He continued that the coaching programmes in most of the countries were started on lines of the Ackerley’s
strategy.
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