Paul Douglas Ackerley was a field hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

 player from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. He was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics

1976 Summer Olympics

The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...

 in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. He was selected for the 1980 Summer Olympics

New Zealand at the 1980 Summer Olympics

New Zealand did not officially participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR as the government of that time supported the US-led boycott. Four New Zealand athletes competed as independents under the banner of the NZOCGA.-Canoeing:...

, but most sports in New Zealand boycotted the Moscow games so he did not compete. He had 25 international caps for New Zealand.

Ackerley was born in Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

, and grew up in Ashburton. He graduated from the University of Canterbury

University of Canterbury

The University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...

, where he played in the Canterbury University hockey club in the late 1960s. He was a secondary school mathematics teacher at Linwood High School, Christchurch and then head of the maths department at Awatapu College, Palmerston North. He transferred to the Education Ministry inspectorate, and then the New Zealand Qualifications Authority

New Zealand Qualifications Authority

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is the New Zealand government crown entity tasked with providing leadership in assessment and qualifications....

, where he was in the group that developed the NCEA

NCEA

NCEA can stand for:*National Certificate of Educational Achievement, New Zealand's main secondary school qualification*National Council for Educational Awards, Ireland*National Catholic Educational Association, United States...

. He joined Sport and Recreation New Zealand

Sport and Recreation New Zealand

Sport and Recreation New Zealand is the New Zealand government body responsible for community sport and recreation programs. It was formed on 1 January 2003 and took over the functions of the Hillary Commission, the New Zealand Sports Foundation and the policy arm of the Office of Tourism and...

 (SPARC) in 2004 as a senior advisor in coaching and volunteers.

He coached the national woman's hockey team when they won a bronze at the 1998 Commonwealth Games

New Zealand at the 1998 Commonwealth Games

New Zealand sent a team of 217 competitors and 80 officials to the 1998 Commonwealth Games, which were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The flagbearer at the opening ceremony was Graeme Miller, and at the closing ceremony Darren Liddel....

 in Malaysia, and the Wellington women’s team.

Ackerley died in Wellington, New Zealand aged 61 on 3 May 2011 from skin cancer after a short illness, aged 61.