Hockey New Zealand announces that Chief Executive will step down

Hockey New Zealand Chief Executive Ian Francis has announced his resignation after nearly 10 years at the national governing body.

Resigning after what the New Zealand Herald describes as “four turbulent years” as Chief Executive, Francis will leave the role in October.

Francis had signalled to the Hockey NZ board earlier this year that he planned to step down but agreed to stay on longer to help navigate the sport through the Coronavirus crisis.

Commenting on departing the role, Francis advised "I am very grateful for the commitment and willingness of our hockey community to work together in the sport’s best interests, and this has allowed us to drive some real progress.

"I’m also pleased to leave knowing that New Zealand now has a strong voice at the global hockey table."

Under Francis (pictured), New Zealand's men's team won the Commonwealth Games silver medal at Gold Coast 2018 and both the men and women's teams have qualified for the re-arranged Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.

However, the NZ Herald says “his decision follows a spate of high-profile departures from the Black Sticks women's programme in recent weeks - including Gemma McCaw, Brooke Neal and assistant coach Katie Glynn - and reports of a fractured squad struggling to deal with the fallout associated with the departure of former coach Mark Hager.”

A review into the sport last year pointed to a "negative" environment at its elite level.

Hockey NZ Chair Mike Bignell said with community hockey now back up and running, and with the international game in a Coronavirus-enforced break, it was the right time to transition to a new leader.

Praising Francis' contribution to the sport, Bignell stated “hockey has an incredibly busy two years ahead.

“At community level we are working with associations to introduce more competition opportunities. We are also increasing the depth of our high performance playing pool through the development of 100 athletes outside our national squads

"And internationally our Black Sticks teams, which are both ranked amongst the world's top nations, will compete in the annual FIH Hockey Pro League as well as the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 followed by the World Cup and Commonwealth Games in 2022."

"During Ian’s tenure, hockey has become a year-round game, with registered numbers steadily growing each year.

"With around 90,000 registered players, our participation levels are now nearly 50% cent higher than 10 years ago.

"Ian leaves a strong legacy behind him, with the sport well positioned for the next chief executive to continue this journey."

Having joined Hockey NZ in 2011, Francis was credited with playing an integral part in driving the sport's growth as General Manager Community Sport and Events.

He took over as the permanent Chief Executive from Malcolm Harris in July 2016, following six months in the acting role.