At a time when the mental, emotional, and developmental needs of college athletes are finally beginning to receive the attention they deserve, the University of Richmond has launched an initiative that may well serve as a blueprint for others. The program, dubbed Spider Performance, is more than a rebranding - it’s a reimagining of what holistic support should look like in college athletics.
While schools across the country continue to invest heavily in facilities, coaches, and competition, Richmond is making an equally bold statement: that winning off the field is just as important as what happens between the lines.
A Champion’s Blueprint
Spider Performance unites the many strands of the student-athlete experience into one integrated support system. Rather than allowing resources like mental health counseling, academic support, leadership training, and career development to operate in silos, Richmond is bringing them under one coordinated umbrella. It’s not just about competing - it’s about becoming.
“We want you to win at everything you do, and how you do one thing is how you do everything,” said Lauren Wicklund, senior associate athletic director for leadership and student-athlete development and the driving force behind the program. At the core of Spider Performance are four pillars: athletic, academic, personal, and professional achievement—a framework designed to build “champions for life.”
In an era when the athlete identity can become all-consuming, especially at the Division I level, Richmond’s approach starts from a powerful and refreshingly human place: student-athletes are people first.
From Orientation to Graduation—and Beyond
Spider Performance isn’t a one-size-fits-all program. It’s a four-year developmental model that evolves with each student. First-year athletes begin with orientation experiences that help them understand their personal strengths, temperaments, and learning styles. Seniors move toward career-focused programming that translates their sports experience into skills for the working world.
Knowing how packed a student-athlete’s calendar can be, Richmond offers high-impact, low-interruption experiences - career treks with alumni, short-term study abroad programs, wellness courses, and community service projects. The goal is to ensure athletes don’t have to choose between personal growth and competitive success.
This model also includes a growing emphasis on financial literacy, now thoughtfully expanded to include guidance on name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights. Instead of assuming students already know how to manage their newfound earning potential, Richmond is building real-life financial lessons into its student-athlete curriculum - covering everything from budgeting to NIL-specific income streams.
A Campus-Wide Team Effort
Spider Performance is not simply an athletic department initiative - it’s a university-wide collaboration. Coaches, academic faculty, trainers, career services, and co-curricular teams all have a seat at the table. Wicklund and her team even tailor their messaging to align with each sports program, helping coaches and student-athletes speak a common language about what success really means.
That unified approach is vital not just for effectiveness, but also for credibility. When athletes hear consistent support from multiple trusted figures, they’re more likely to engage, reflect, and grow.
A Model for What College Sports Could Be
Too often, conversations about the future of college athletics center on the economics of big-time football or the legal nuances of NIL. But in the midst of that noise, Richmond has reminded us what’s still possible in this space: a commitment to whole-person development, anchored in empathy, structure, and intentional design.
This is the kind of innovation that doesn’t make splashy headlines or billion-dollar headlines - but it should. Because at its core, college sports should be about opportunity. And at Richmond, opportunity isn’t just about earning a spot on the roster - it’s about equipping student-athletes to succeed in every chapter that comes next.
Spider Performance isn’t flashy, but it’s transformational. And in today’s climate, that might be the most radical thing a college athletics department can do.
