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Director of Athletics Nicolle “Nicky” Wood ’95 has made it her mission to holistically support the student-athlete experience at Salem State. “We see ourselves as an opportunity for student-athletes who are supremely talented in their sport to also have that balance to pursue a meaningful academic career. Salem State is unique because it isn’t just about getting your diploma; it’s about what that diploma represents, your experience and what you’re prepared to do once you graduate.”

ONE VIKING’S JOURNEY

A graduate of the sport and movement science program, Wood was a goalkeeper for the Lady Vikings from 1991 through 1994 and was a member of four Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) championship teams. In addition, she was a member of the women’s soccer team during its most successful period and participated in three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments and one Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament during her playing days. Wood is the only SSU player or coach who has played a role in seven of the program’s nine MASCAC titles since college added women’s varsity soccer at the NCAA Division 3 level in 1986. 

“My experience as a Viking helped shape so much of what I have become, and I am grateful to be in a position to continue to pay that forward through the experiences we can offer our students.”

Wood joined Salem State’s staff in 2007 as coordinator of CHAMPS Lifeskills programming and head women’s soccer coach. She has since served as coordinator for student-athlete affairs, assistant and associate director of athletics and as director of athletics since June 2020.

“I realized very quickly that this is where I belong,” Wood reflects.

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF ATHLETICS

In her role, Wood is responsible for overseeing the vision of Salem State athletics and guiding it to provide a positive and competitive program that focuses on student-athletes’ academic and personal goals.

In addition to success in athletics, Viking student-athletes have had a high level of academic success and civic engagement programming. This past fall, 118 fall and winter student-athletes were named to the All Academic team, and the average team GPA across all 15 sports was a Dean’s List level of 3.24. Viking teams have also won national awards for their community service programming including hosting mentoring events with Girls Inc. of Lynn, the Massachusetts Coalition to End Homelessness and the Special Olympics.

Wood is excited about the current state of athletics programming: “Now is the time for us to grow. We have an amazing coaching staff where they can have the impact they want. We have the infrastructure and collaboration on this campus to support student-athlete needs. And I’m proud to tell students, whatever your definition of success is, Salem State can help you meet that goal.”