Heather has been part of the UNLV athletics staff since 2016, first joining as Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning before moving into sport science and later being promoted to Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Science in 2024.

In this episode, Heather shares how UNLV has built a sport science model from the ground up, why data should inform rather than dictate decisions, and how practitioners can create real buy-in across coaches, athletes, strength and conditioning, sports medicine, nutrition and psychology.

The conversation explores the realities of working in collegiate sport, from the impact of the transfer portal to the challenge of supporting athletes when timeframes are shorter and rosters are constantly changing. Heather also discusses the importance of female athlete data, the risks of over-relying on wearable technology, and why return-to-play decisions must go beyond timelines and basic fitness markers.

Throughout the episode, Heather brings the conversation back to one core principle: sport science is still about people. Data matters, technology matters, and AI may help practitioners work more efficiently, but the human side of performance remains central to everything.

In this episode you will learn

• How Heather transitioned from collegiate soccer player to strength and conditioning coach, and then into sport science
• Why UNLV built its sport science model around being “human first”
• How to use data as an input rather than treating it as the final answer
• Why coach buy-in is easier when practitioners build trust and show value over time
• The challenges of applying male-dominated performance data to female athletes
• How the transfer portal has changed long-term athlete development in collegiate sport
• Why wearable technology can support performance but also create “analysis paralysis”
• How UNLV approaches return to play using performance outputs, not just timelines
• Why AI can support information gathering and efficiency, but cannot replace human judgement
• The importance of speaking the language of other disciplines in a high-performance team

About Heather Farmer
Heather Farmer is the Assistant Athletics Director, Sports Science at UNLV. She has been with UNLV since 2016, initially working in strength and conditioning before moving into sport science leadership. Her work focuses on integrating data-informed approaches across the high-performance team while keeping the individual athlete at the centre of the process.

Before her career in performance, Heather played soccer at the University of North Alabama, where time spent rehabbing from injury and working in the weight room helped shape her interest in high-performance sport. She later worked across multiple sports as a graduate assistant at Lindenwood University before joining UNLV.

At UNLV, Heather has helped grow sport science into a foundational part of the athletics department, working closely with coaches, athletes and interdisciplinary support staff to create a model that fits the needs of the university, rather than copying what works elsewhere.

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Specifically Jess will be looking at:

• How football differs for men and women
• Key considerations for women footballers
• How to train with these considerations in mind
• Case study: How to train as a non-elite woman footballer

About Jess:

"Jess currently works as an Exercise Physiologist for the University of Worcester where she conducts all the fitness testing for the Hereford and Worcester Fire Service. Alongside this role she works as an Academy Manager for Science For Sport, is Club Captain for Worcester City Women FC as well as being the Head Coach for the Worcester Movers & Shakers which is an all Parkinson's Walking Football Team. She has a keen passion in promotion of women's sports as well as anything ACL rehabilitation related. Jess received a soccer scholarship to the US where she completed a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and Marketing before completing a Post-Graduate Degree in Strength, Conditioning and Performance at University College Birmingham."

Instagram: jess_fasss
Twitter: jess_fass
LinkedIn: Jessica Fassnidge (Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fassnidge-9867a110a/ )

Worcester City Women FC: https://www.wcwfc.co.uk/

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Specifically Kirsty will be looking at:

• Impact of the menstrual cycle in sport
• Key phases and their importance in sport
• How/whether to adjust training around the menstrual cylce

About Kirsty

"I completed my undergraduate degree and PhD [Exercise Physiology] at Liverpool John Moores University. My PhD examined the effects of female reproductive hormones on muscle strength and since then my work has primarily focused on female athletes. I worked as a Lecturer at Brunel University and the University of Brighton, before undertaking a four-year Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Kings College London. I worked at Nottingham Trent University between 2009 and 2022. I joined the Institute of Sport at Manchester Metropolitan University this year as a Professor of Female Endocrinology and Exercise Physiology. In addition to my research on female athletes, which includes the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraceptives, the Female Athlete Triad and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, my work in recent years has involved designing and implementing exercise interventions during and following pregnancy in a variety of populations including servicewomen (i.e., military personnel), athletes, and women with obesity. I have co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, expert statements, and editorials on/for sportswomen. In addition, I work with many organisations such as the English Institute of Sport, the Football Association, The Australian Institute of Sport, The European Club Association, and The Wu Tsai Performance Alliance and am on several special interest groups and advisory boards related to female athletes."

Twitter: @ElliottSale

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​ Learn Quicker & More Effectively, Freeing Up Time To Spend With Friends And Family
​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery
​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In
​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese
​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More
​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance
​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes
​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research

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