Nicole Neal, who is in her 11th year with FGCU in 2024-25, was promoted Senior Associate Athletic Director, Team Administration late 2024. She was promoted from her previous role as Associate AD for Health Performance & Administration.
Neal, who has over 30 years of experience in athletics, manages FGCU’s eight-member sports medicine staff. She previously served as an assistant AD, and began her time at FGCU as head athletic trainer in the fall of 2014.
In her almost two decades with NC State, Neal worked her way up from an assistant athletic trainer to associate director of sports medicine. She also served as the interim director of sports medicine at N.C. State and has spent time at the University of Oregon and Bray-Maness Physical Therapy, Inc. in High Point, N.C.
With the exception of the fall of 2011, in which she served as the interim director, Neal worked as the associate director for the Wolfpack since August 2003. In that role, she directed the day-to-day operations of the Reynolds and Weisiger-Brown Athletic Training Rooms by scheduling and supervising staff and graduate assistant trainers. She also performed injury evaluation and subsequent treatment, rehabilitation and return-to-activity plans for injured student-athletes, while maintaining accurate medical records.
During her time as the interim director, Neal directed the overall and day-to-day operations of each athletic training facility at N.C. State. She worked in partnership with both sports nutritionists on medically-related nutritional concerns and the strength and conditioning staff to ensure student-athlete health and performance.
From August 1999 through 2003, Neal served as the assistant athletic trainer at N.C. State for the women’s basketball program, and prior to that she was the assistant athletic trainer for the men’s and women’s track and field programs at N.C. State for two years. She began her time at the Division I level as an athletic trainer for the women’s soccer team at Oregon in 1996-97.
Neal graduated with a bachelor of science degree in sports medicine from High Point University in 1994. She went on to receive her master of science in exercise and movement science from the University of Oregon in 1997, and she earned a master's of parks, recreation, tourism and sport management from NC State in 2016.
Neal has served as a moderator at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) annual symposium, and she has been a member of the North Carolina Board of Athletic Trainer Examiners since 2012.
Neal holds the following certifications:
- National Athletic Trainers’ Association Certification
- Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, National Strength and Conditioning Association
- Performance Enhancement Specialist, National Academy of Sports Medicine
- Corrective Exercise Specialist, National Academy of Sports Medicine
- Certified in Sound Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization technique
- American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED
Last updated 12/6/24
