Paul Ackerley

Paul Douglas Ackerley (born May 16, 1949 in Christchurch) is a former field hockey player from New Zealand, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

Originally from Ashburton, Ackerley, a right half, learned his hockey in Christchurch where, playing for the University club, he came under the expert eye of coach Cyril Walter. Ackerley was a late bloomer and an inspiration to the many players in all sports who are unable to make major junior representative teams. Even when he got to Christchurch, he started out in the University Club second grade side.

Initially Ackerley was a teacher. At the time of the 1976 Olympics, he was teaching physics at Linwood High School in Christchurch. He worked for many years for the Ministry of Education and more recently has been employed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. He has been closely involved with the new college qualifications, the NCEA.

Ackerley has maintained a strong interest in hockey, coaching the New Zealand Women's Team, nicknamed "The Black Sticks", for a period of six years, culminating in a sixth placing in the 1998 World Cup in Utrecht, The Netherlands and to a Commonwealth Games bronze medal at Kuala Lumpur the same year. More recently, he has coached the Wellington women’s team.