She was head coach when Vixens won the 2014 ANZ Championship and the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball titles.

In 1992, McKinnis was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia and in 2010 was inducted into the Australian Netball Hall of Fame.

The McKinnis family spent time in Western Australia and New South Wales before eventually settling in Geelong.

In 1990 she played for Melbourne City, a composite team coached by Norma Plummer that also featured Roselee Jencke and Shelley O'Donnell.

Her later Pumas team mates included Janine Ilitch, Eloise Southby and Ingrid Dick.

She was head coach when Australia won the 2009 World Youth Netball Championships, defeating New Zealand U21 64–46 in the final after going undefeated throughout the tournament.

[31][32][33][34][35] McKinnis was named the Joyce Brown Coach of the Year after Vixens were minor premiers in 2017 and again in 2020 after a second premiership.

[25][37][38][39] The Sargeant–McKinnis Cup is awarded annually to the aggregate winner of the two Suncorp Super Netball matches between Melbourne Vixens and New South Wales Swifts.