How Australia's moguls coach almost left the system, and why he stayed

Australia's most successful Winter Olympics coach Peter McNiel and how his moguls team led the Milano Cortina gold rushBy Simon Smale in LivignoTopic:Winter Olympic Games13m ago13 minutes agoWed 18 Feb 2026 at 1:00amPeter McNiel (left), paid credit to the rest of his coaching team, including Kate Blamey (right). (Suppledi: AOC/Chris Hocking)abc.net.au/news/australia-winter-olympics-coach-peter-mcniel-moguls/106356920Link copiedShareShare articleAustralian moguls coach Peter McNiel had reached a crossroads.A mathematics and statistics graduate from the University of Melbourne, McNiel was coaching moguls part time.A more stable career in financial services was waiting."We were funded well for the high-performance team, but I was in a development space and we didn't have a lot of… there wasn't a lot of opportunity in that space just because moguls is more of a niche sport," McNiel tells ABC Sport."There was not a lot of money floating around, so I kind of had to pay my own way for quite a long time before I ended up working with the National Team Program."I wasn't really making any money from ski coaching and there wasn't any available positions in Australia for me to do that." Moguls is a delicate balance of skill and precision. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)Soon an offer came in to coach in Canada and, with it, the opportunity to work with moguls great Mikaël Kingsbury.McNiel acknowledged that it was a tough opportunity to pass up."But I guess I had a really deep connection with wanting to help make the pathway in Australia more successful and help create the opportunity to have other people make it to this level, the Olympic level," he says."Now, at that point in time, I was in the development space, but I was just trying to play my part and help give people the opportunity to move up to a level where they could qualify on our national team and then get their shot at being an Olympic athlete."How Australia leads the world in moguls skiingTo the surprise of many, the "beach nation" that is Australia is the best moguls skiing nation on earth. How the team got there is no accident.McNiel had seen the power of a successful program firsthand.He was there when Steve Desovich coached Dale Begg-Smith to Winter Olympic gold in 2006, a moment that lit the spark to progress and develop himself as a coach.But there was a risk that reality would bite. That McNiel may have been forced away.But something significant kept him in Australia."My final decision was more around, I was working with a couple of athletes at that time," McNiel says."One was called Cooper Woods."And one was Jakara Anthony."The rest, as they say, is history.Get the latest:Winter Olympics day 11: Weather plays havoc with Olympic scheduleStay across the highs and lows of the Games with the ABC Sport Daily podcast and ABC Sport.'It takes a small team of really dedicated people'Australia's moguls team celebrates every win together. (Supplied: AOC/Chris Hocking)ABC Sport met with McNiel in a cafe in Vignola a couple of days after his Australian moguls team became the most successful group of Australian Winter Olympians in history.But one of the first things he emphasises is that success in the moguls team is down to the whole-team outlook. "There's a lot of people involved in that journey," McNiel says, displaying the same humility that his entire squad embodies."I'm the head coach of the National Team Program and as a head coach, in this instance, there's recognition and people are talking about it because the whole team performs so well. "If we'd had a massive failure here, I'd be copping a lot of recognition personally as being the person responsible for that. "But ultimately, I'm just a figurehead for a whole group of people that work all at the same level of intensity and commitment that I do. "They say it takes a village. In this instance, it takes a small team of really dedicated people and really motivated people that are willing to go to the nth degree."McNiel is, of course, absolutely right.Alisa Camplin-Warner (front centre) praised the entire moguls coaching staff after the team's success. (Supplied: AOC/Chris Hocking)Australia's chef de mission Alisa Camplin-Warner and Snow Australia president Daniel Bosco were both effusive in their praise for the coaching team."Pete McNiel, Kate, they spend 320 days of the year away from home on the road with the athletes, totally invested in what they're doing," Bosco said."They leave no stone left unturned when it comes to technical outcomes. "I'm almost a believer that those guys could pick up anyone off the street at a young age and turn them into good athletes, they're so good at what they do."Camplin-Warner, meanwhile, described the whole coaching set-up as "elite" but still offered particular praise for McNiel."He leads with his heart," Camplin-Warner said."He's a really passionate and committed coach