Hockey New Zealand Appoints Michelle Hollands as CEO

Hockey New Zealand has named Michelle Hollands as its new Chief Executive Officer, following a ten-month period under Acting CEO Ken Maplesden.

The appointment comes after an extensive search to replace Anthony Crummy, who stepped down in March for health reasons.

High-Performance and Commercial Experience

Hollands, a former Black Stick with 99 international caps, brings a combination of high-performance experience and commercial leadership to the role. She represented New Zealand at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and World Cup, and holds formal qualifications in physical education, sport management, and business administration.

Commenting on her appointment, and acknowledging her scope of the task ahead, Hollands, said: “looking forward to meeting and working with our many partners and stakeholders.”

Her success will depend on aligning those stakeholders across high-performance, commercial, and community pathways, as Hockey NZ navigates a competitive sport participation landscape and increasing pressure to secure diversified revenue streams.

Governance and Strategic Credentials

Hollands has served on boards including the Oceania Hockey Federation, Badminton New Zealand, and Northern Districts Cricket, and is a chartered member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. Her professional background spans senior roles in sport, regional development, and consulting, with a focus on strategic transformation and stakeholder engagement.

Her consulting firm, Freshminds, has worked with national sporting bodies such as NZ Rugby, Rowing NZ, Basketball NZ and Hockey NZ, contributing to system-wide reviews and strategy design. Notably, she led Hockey NZ’s sport-wide pathways design project, Hiki Tu, in 2023 and played a key role in the 2021 high-performance review, Project Kahurangi.

Hollands’ familiarity with the organisation’s internal processes and recent projects positions her to accelerate implementation rather than initiate wholesale change.

The organisation’s stated priorities include strengthening high-performance systems, expanding grassroots participation, growing audience engagement, and building financial sustainability, as some objectives that will require balancing elite program demands with community development investment.

Acting CEO Ken Maplesden, who has held senior positions at Hockey NZ for nine years, will remain in place until Hollands begins on 8 October. His departure marks the end of a period in which the organisation managed leadership transition alongside broader sector challenges, including resource constraints and post-pandemic recovery in participation.

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