In 2005, at an AASP Conference in Vancouver, the NCAA presented compelling data: mental health support for student-athletes was significantly underserved across collegiate athletics. That insight became the catalyst for the creation of Premier Sport Psychology, which opened its doors in 2009. By 2011, the University of Minnesota Athletic Department was searching for dual-credentialed sport psychologists – licensed in mental health and certified in performance consulting. Meeting that need sparked our rebrand and launched the Premier model that has continued to grow ever since.
From the beginning, our guiding belief has been simple: when ethical, evidence-based work is delivered by properly trained professionals, athletes and leaders can work through mental health challenges and adversity to reach a more optimal state that helps athletes achieve their goals. This principle has shaped our growth into a trusted resource across the performance landscape.
Over the past 15 years, Premier has become a long-term partner to professional teams in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NWSL, NHL, and PWHL, to collegiate athletic departments at every level (Divisions I, II, and III), and to countless high schools and individual clients nationwide.
Our work has always bridged mental performance, wellness, and leadership. Sport medicine doctors, athletic trainers, and physical therapists have relied on Premier as a referral partner, knowing that athletes need both mental and physical support to perform and recover at their best.
Front offices and administrators have trusted Premier as their confidential high-performance psychology partner. By providing services across this continuum, Premier has helped thousands of athletes build resilience, focus, confidence, wellness, and leadership when it matters most.
Today, our commitment is expanding once again. With the launch of the Premier Mindset Institute, we are reflecting on the impact of our work and grounding it in meaningful data. By analyzing self-reports, outcome measures, and assessments across thousands of athletes over the past decade, we are bringing clarity to the patterns and needs shaping performance and mental wellness today.
What began as a response to an unmet need has grown into a movement to elevate how psychology shapes sport. And we are just getting started.