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Dr. Colleen Hacker - Mental Skills Coach

Dr. Colleen Hacker, Ph.D. Professor, Sport & Exercise Psychology, has served as the U.S. Women's National Team’s Mental Skills Coach since 2011.

An internationally recognized authority on the psychology of peak performance, Dr. Colleen Hacker has served as the Sports Psychology Consultant to the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team since 1996. During her tenure, The National Team won a Gold Medal at the 1996 Olympic Games, the 1998 Goodwill Games and the 1999 World Cup. Named as an Assistant Coach in 2000, Dr. Hacker helped lead the National Team to a Silver Medal at the Sydney Olympic Games and a third place finish in the 2003 World Championships. The team also won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The United States is the only country in the world to finish in the top three of every major world championship in soccer history.

In addition to her work with the National Soccer Team, Dr. Hacker works with professional, international and Olympic athletes in a variety of sports. Her strategies for peak performance are sought by corporations, business groups, professional sport teams, civic organizations and both print and television media. With more than 20 years experience in higher education, she is currently a professor and an Assistant Dean at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. Dr. Hacker has conducted extensive, applied research in the field of sport psychology with particular emphasis on peak performance, cohesion, leadership and performance success and moral development in sport.

Dr. Hacker received her Bachelor of Science degree in Health and Physical Education from Lock Haven University (Pa.). She earned her master's degree in exercise and sports science at the University of Arizona and received her Ph.D. in exercise and movement science from the University of Oregon in 1992.

Dr. Hacker has received numerous professional awards including the Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award (the highest teaching honor awarded by the University), the National Association of Girls and Women in Sport Pathfinder Award, the National Association of Sport and Physical Education Inspiration Award, the President Medal from Pacific Lutheran University, the American Psychological Association's Presidential Citation, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Letter of Commendation, and the National Award of Excellence, to name a few. She is a member of the Advisory Panel for the Center for Sport Parenting through the Institute for International Sport, Club Life Magazine, the NSCAA National Coaching Staff and has served on the United States Olympic Committee Performance Enhancement Team.