The University of Minnesota’s head coach, Hugh McCutcheon, has been recognized in his homeland of New Zealand being named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. The award was handed out in part to his services to sports as a part of Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday honor.
The Order of Merit was first awarded in 1996 to honor those “who in any field of endeavor have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and nation or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions or other merits.”
McCutcheon received his award from New Zealand’s Governor General, Patsy Reddy on behalf of the Queen.
McCutcheon has twice led teams to Olympic medals – USA men to gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and USA women to silver at the London 2012 Games. Currently, McCutcheon is the head volleyball coach at Minnesota.
While in New Zealand, McCutcheon spent time playing and coaching teams that are competing in the World Master’s Games, a competition that he is an ambassador for. The World Master’s Games is the largest multi-sport event in the world – in terms of athletes competing it out-ranks the Olympics. The event was held in Auckland from April 21-30 with 25,000 athletes competing in 28 sports across 45 competition venues.
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