The Tasmanian and Australian hockey communities were united in praise following the announcement that Andrew McDonald has stepped down after 30 years of service to the sport.
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Tasmania's long-standing National Training Centre coach leaves an enormous legacy having overseen the men's and women's hockey programs in the state plus an array of national team coaching roles.
Based at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre in Hobart, McDonald has been instrumental in guiding the state's finest to Olympic success including Daniel Sproule, David Guest, Eddie Ockenden, Tim Deavin and 2004 gold medallist Matthew Wells who led the tributes.
"For the first 13 years Macca coached me, guided me, and provided all the support I needed to be successful at three Olympic Games and he shared in all the celebrations," said Wells, who is now the Hockey Queensland athlete pathway programs men's coach.
"He has since been my mentor in coaching for the past 12 years. His insights and knowledge of the game as well as his program skill sets have been invaluable to my development and have helped mould me to be who I am today.
"He is still one of Australia's best minded coaches and held in very high regard amongst his peers. It is a shame to be losing him from the sport at this time.
"I'm sure his knowledge won't be lost to high performance sport and I look forward to continuing to tap into his wisdom into the future."
Hockey Australia said McDonald, who also helped Tasmanian teams achieve significant success including Australian Hockey League and under-21 titles, has become renowned for setting standards across the national network.
Involved in high performance pathways and national teams across three decades, McDonald will now fulfil a coach development role with the Tasmanian Institute of Sport.
"I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to combine my passion for coaching and hockey into a full-time career," McDonald said.
"I want to thank the many wonderful athletes, volunteers, colleagues and administrators for putting up with me this long. The time is right for me to meet new challenges."
Kookaburras head coach Colin Batch acknowledged McDonald's ability to develop and bring the best out of players.
"Macca is well respected within the high performance sector of our sport and has assisted to develop and inspire many of his athletes to achieve senior and junior national selection," he said.
"He leaves a wonderful legacy and his long tenure is testament to his coaching and management ability."
Hockey Australia chief executive Matt Favier and his Hockey Tasmania counterpart Damian Smith said McDonald had been an outstanding contributor to the sport.
"To have been doing what he has done for so long and still held in such high esteem is testament to his character as a person and his knowledge and expertise of the game," Favier said.
TIS director Paul Austen said the consistent contribution McDonald has made in progressing athletes through to the national program had been "outstanding".
He added: "The TIS is excited to now have Andrew contribute to other key objectives of the TIS, particularly in coach development, where his extensive experience will be of great value to the wider Tasmanian coaching community."
An excellent hockey player in his own right, having won a silver medal representing Australia at the 1989 Junior World Cup, McDonald spent three years at the high performance unit in Perth, winning a national senior and under-21 championship with Victoria.
