India on Saturday appointed Austria-born American Peter Harberl as the mental conditioning coach of the national women’s hockey team.

During his tenure, Haberl, a licensed psychologist, who hails from Colorado Springs, USA, will work alongside the Indian women’s team chief coach, Janneke Schopman.

Haberl comes with prior experience in working with high-performing teams and individuals.

He has been to nine Olympic Games with medal-winning athletes and teams, providing innovative, cutting-edge techniques and team-building strategies to optimise performance under pressure.

With the FIH Olympic Qualifiers scheduled to be held in Ranchi from 13th to 19th January next year, Haberl’s appointment is going to boost the morale of the team.

Being a retired professional ice hockey player, Haberl has firsthand knowledge of the ordeals faced by athletes and how to deal with pressure.

He began his career with the US women’s ice hockey team as a sports psychology consultant from 1996 to 2006 and has since then perfected his craft on his way to being appointed sport psychologist of the US Olympic Committee from 2001 to 2005 and senior sport psychologist of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee from 2005 to 2023.