NSWIS appoint new Freestyle Moguls Head Coach

NSWIS in partnership with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia and Ski & Snowboard Australia is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter McNiel to the role of Head Coach for the Freestyle Moguls Program.

McNiel brings a wealth of experience to the position, having worked with the NSWIS Moguls program both domestically and internationally for a number of years, including a coaching role at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

McNiel started coaching in 2002, becoming the Head Coach of the Team Buller Moguls Program in his time there before moving to Perisher to assist the growth of moguls skiing in New South Wales. The experienced coach has spearheaded the Perisher Winter Sports Club Moguls Program for the last six years and also owned/operated The Moguls Skiing Academy (AUSMSA) for the past five years.

Long-serving coach, Peter Topalovic, steps down from the top coaching role however will continue to play a big part in Winter Sports for the NSW Institute of Sport.

CEO for the NSW Institute of Sport, Kevin Thompson, knows McNiel is the right person for the job.

“Peter McNiel joins NSWIS with a strong understanding of the Moguls program, and his expertise in the sport ensures the next stage is in safe hands” said Thompson.

“His appointment comes at a time when Freestyle Moguls is riding a wave of success in Australia, with Matt Graham’s recent silver medal at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as well as a number of top twenty performances.

“It’s certainly an exciting time to be a part of the sport”.

Geoff Lipshut, CEO Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, is pleased with the appointment of McNiel.

“Peter is a great fit for the NSWIS role, he has worked in the Australian system for over a decade and already has some great experiences behind him including coaching NSWIS 19 year old rookie skier Jakara Anthony to a personal best of fourth, just missing a medal last month at the Olympics.

“We look forward to Peter finding and developing the next group of great Australian Mogul Skiing talent in the future”.

The success of the NSWIS Freestyle Moguls Program at the Winter Olympics sets the bar very high and McNiel points to the passionate people involved in the sport as reason for the outstanding performances.

“I think moguls skiing is in such a strong position right now because we’ve had a really strong community, and really good, enthusiastic and motivated coaches – that’s created a lot of interest in moguls skiing” said McNiel.

“We have some great home-grown athletes and athlete mentors in Matt Graham, Britt Cox, Brodie Summers and Nicole Parks. They’ve been prolific in the past few years and inspired younger athletes to want to take up moguls skiing”.