Bison Performance & Wellness

Our goal for every Bison student-athlete is simple: maximize their physical and mental gifts to compete at full strength today, and leave Bucknell knowing how to apply the principles and strategies that maximize performance in every aspect of their post-Bucknell lives. Pairing the expertise of our sports performance team with that of our faculty and student data scientists creates a distinctive model, and one that I’m proud Bucknell can offer.”

— Tim Pavlechko ’91, Vice President for Athletics & Recreation

Every Bucknell student-athlete deserves two things from their time on campus: investments that help them to compete at their highest possible level today, and the knowledge necessary to help them be their physical and mental best for the rest of their lives. Delivering on both fronts takes a team behind the team that includes: 

• Athletic trainers who catch an injury early

• Strength coaches who build durable bodies

• Nutritionists who fuel recovery

• Sport psychologists who care for the mind as well as the body

• Academic partners in the Dominguez Center for Data Science (DCDS) analyzing the data to tie it all together

A dedicated team for every athlete.

• Train: Strength and conditioning coaches leverage biometric data specific to student-athletes to build competitors who are powerful and durable.
• Fuel: Dedicated sports nutritionists and an expanded Bison Fuel nutrition program turn team nutrition goals into daily habits.
• Protect and recover: Certified athletic trainers and sport-specific injury-prevention programming and recovery resources keep each Bison athlete in the game and guide them safely back to play as soon as possible when injuries occur.
• Mind: Sport performance psychologists, connected to University counseling, support the mental side of competition and holistic student-athlete mental health.
• Measure: Performance data collection instruments — including GPS tracking, force plates and motion capture sensors — flag fatigue and injury risk early, and data scientists show coaches which interventions are working.
• Prepare: Data analytics, artificial intelligence interfaces and other software helps enhance the ability of Bison coaches and athletes to design more effective training programs and strategically plan for — and adjust to — their opponents in real-time competition.

Individually, these tactics help improve different aspects of performance. Together, they work as a force multiplier. Investments in this space will differentiate Bison Athletics and power competitive success — on the field and after graduation.

Performance Through Innovation

Uniting sports medicine, strength and conditioning, nutrition, mental health, data science, biomedical engineering and AI technologies will improve individual performance, enhance team strategy and support lifelong well-being.

For student-athletes: More than 700 student-athletes across every varsity sport train smarter, eat better, recover faster and return to play with confidence, with fewer preventable injuries along the way. They also learn to read their own numbers, understanding what the data says about their bodies and their game, building data literacy they will carry into their lives and careers.

For coaches: By connecting data collection with actionable insights in real time, Bucknell can help coaches better understand both their own teams and their opponents, identify competitive advantages, and make more informed decisions before and during competition.

For student data science fellows: Fellows work alongside coaches and faculty on live athletic data, turning numbers into decisions coaches use in real time. They graduate with the skills employers compete for: explaining what the data means to the people who have to act on it, in time for their insights to matter.

Ready to launch

The foundation for this initiative is already taking shape. Our Bison Fuel program is seeing early wins on team nutrition goals, our nutritionist is specializing in athletics, and the first sports analytics tools and projects are being implemented in partnership with the DCDS. Flexible gifts let Athletics put resources where the need is greatest now, building the base every future opportunity will stand on.

What your gift makes possible

• People: The athletic trainers, strength coaches, nutritionists and sport psychologists who work with student-athletes every day, and the faculty and student data scientists leading and expanding our performance analytics capabilities within the DCDS.
• Programs: Bison Fuel, injury prevention and recovery, and analytics student fellowships.

• Spaces and tools: Equipment upgrades to training facilities and weight rooms, and performance technology and operating systems.