Under the direction of New York University Director of Athletics
Jake Olkkola and Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Health and Performance
Nikki Webb, NYU has launched a groundbreaking Performance Elevation initiative designed to redefine how the NYU student-athlete trains and recovers. Built on innovation, collaboration, and an unprecedented investment in the holistic development of student-athletes, the initiative brings together an integrated ecosystem of resources and expertise designed to elevate performance, health, well-being, and personal development.
Drawing on resources and practices traditionally found only within professional sports and leading Division I programs, NYU is creating a model that is truly distinctive at the Division III level. By bringing together high-level performance science, health and wellness, mental performance, nutrition, recovery, and other specialized resources, Performance Elevation will provide NYU's student-athletes with the tools, expertise, and support necessary to perform at their highest level, both in competition and in life. This is an investment not simply in winning, but in creating an exceptional and transformative student-athlete experience at NYU.
"The holistic nature of this enterprise has been years in the making," Olkkola revealed. "Piece by piece, we have built something that is truly unique. There is nothing more important than the health, wellbeing, and performance of our student-athletes, and our goal is to give them access to the very best care, expertise, and technology to help them perform at the highest level."
Webb, who most recently served as Manager, Player Health & Performance for Major League Soccer (MLS) before taking her current role at NYU, heads a Performance Elevation Team which includes nine athletic trainers, five performance strength coaches, four mental performance specialists, including one dedicated endurance sport specialist, two sport dietitians, and a performance science data analyst.
All of these areas will work together as one combined group in order to provide the best possible care and guidance for student-athlete performance.
"I am excited about this next phase of growth for NYU Athletics," Webb said. "When you bring training, nutrition, mental wellbeing, medicine, and recovery into the same room, everything changes for the student-athlete. Instead of piecing together their own support network, we surround them with a whole team working in sync to help them feel, think and perform at their absolute best."
Integrating this array of disciplines creates a unified support system that optimizes student-athlete potential on and off the field. Each discipline provides specialized value, from fueling exertion and tracking physical workload to sharpening mental resilience and safeguarding health. The true impact of this model occurs when these fields converge around a single athlete or a team.
NYU has finished within the top-10 of the Division III Learfield Directors Cup standings in each of the last three seasons, including a seventh-place showing last year.
"In the increasingly competitive landscape of collegiate athletics, we believe this is a defining point of distinction for NYU," Olkkola added. "We are creating an elite destination where talented student-athletes can train, compete, and grow, while supported by an unparalleled performance ecosystem in the heart of New York City."
