DISC Profiles for NCAA
Student-Athletes
The AthleteDISC Profile helps athletes understand who they are, harness that self-awareness, and translate it into success.
Build Self-Awareness, Enhance Performance, and Improve Team Culture with the DISC Profile That Speaks the Language of Athletes.
The Only DISC Profile That Speaks the Language of Athletes.
Built for athletes, Not The OFFICE
Traditional DISC tools, including those often used by ‘NCAA DISC’ programs, were built for corporate environments. They speak to traditional workplaces, meetings, workflows, and team projects. But they don’t reflect how athletes train, compete, communicate, or respond under pressure.
The AthleteDISC Profile was developed specifically for the athletic environment. From the language used and examples provided, every part of the AthleteDISC reflects how athletes think, behave, and perform in training, competition, recovery, and beyond.
Speak to the Identity That Resonates Most
Student-athletes understand themselves first and foremost through their sport.
That’s why the AthleteDISC starts there.
Creating and utilizing the opportunity for Student-Athletes to explore their behavioral style through their most familiar and valued identity. Once engaged and having built self-awareness through this lens, the insights become a powerful tool for other key development areas, including:
Building emotional intelligence and confidence
Team contribution and communication skills
Enhancing the Coach-Athlete relationship through a shared understanding (particularly valuable when CoachDISC is also used)
Leadership development (team captains, emerging leaders, SAAC)
Identifying transferable strengths and growth areas for personal development, career readiness, and life after sport
Brian Townsend
Director of Student-Athlete Leadership Development, University of Michigan
Director of Student-Athlete Leadership Development, University of Michigan
What I love about DISC is that it builds a self-awareness of an individual’s own preferred behaviors which helps them long after their athletic career. It’s not just about an athlete’s sport. The development of self-knowledge assembles a bigger picture for the athlete, and their sport gives them a chance to rehearse what they learn about themselves through DISC.
Help Coaches Better Understand Their Athletes
The AthleteDISC isn’t just for the individual, it is a critical tool for coaches, advisors, and support staff to understand the behavioral preferences of each athlete they work with.
Coaches and performance staff use the AthleteDISC to:
Adapt communication to different behavioral styles and preferences
Build stronger coach-athlete relationships
Resolve conflict and create psychological safety
Understand team dynamics and foster connection
Tailor feedback and motivation strategies
The result?
More engaged athletes. Greater team cohesion. Higher athlete retention. And stronger individual development outcomes.
Becky Burleigh
Head Coach, Soccer, NCAA Division I National Championship Coach, University of Florida
Head Coach, Soccer, NCAA Division I National Championship Coach, University of Florida
DISC has given our team a much better understanding of themselves and others and created a common language to discuss our similarities and differences. It has totally enhanced our communication both on and off the field… We get a lot of feedback on DISC…who doesn’t like learning about themselves? [The athletes] also love being able to identify their coaches, teammates, etc. They also enjoy hearing about our team’s culture and how we reframe things like competition (both internally and externally) and how we focus on the person’s character and how that has a positive impact on our results.
Why Choose AthleteDISC over Generic DISC Tools?
Here’s how the AthleteDISC Profile stands apart, and why more NCAA programs have made the switch.
| Feature | NCAA DISC (Generic) | AthleteDISC (Sport-Specific) |
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Designed for Athletes |
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Uses sporting language and examples |
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Reflects training, competition, and recovery |
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Supports personal and career development |
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Helps coaches and athletes connect with tailored tools for each role (CoachDISC & AthleteDISC) |
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Used across NCAA Programs |
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How NCAA Programs USe AthleteDISC
From freshman onboarding to senior leadership development
NCAA programs are embedding AthleteDISC into key areas of athlete support, including:
Student-Athlete leadership programs (SAAC, Athlete Leadership)
Team building and culture development
One-on-one athlete coaching and mentoring
Academic and career services
Mental performance and wellbeing initiatives
Ready to Use The DISC Profile Built for Student-Athletes?
Explore how we tailor the application of our sport-specific DISC Profiles to your work:
Find Out More About The AthleteDISC Profile
Take the guesswork out of improved performance.
Use AthleteDISC to help your Student-Athletes build valuable self-awareness of their strengths, motivators and needs, communication style, responses under stress, and how they contribute to the team.
The AthleteDISC Profile has enormous value on its own to support the athlete in developing improved results and as a personal development tool. When used as part of a team, it is the foundation to build chemistry, reduce conflict and develop communication needed to achieve team synergy.
Enquire About Team Pricing or Workshops
Lead with impact. Build stronger teams.
Use DISC to understand your athletes, tailor your coaching, and unlock greater performance and cohesion.
Our Elite Team Program includes DISC Profiling and a series of consultations to ensure you get the most out of your investment, and apply DISC to what’s most important to your team.
Add DISC to Your Student-Athlete Development
Develop confident, self-aware leaders on and off the field.
Integrate DISC into your leadership programs to create a consistent language for growth and team contribution.
Our Athlete Leadership Program empowers student-athletes to lead with greater self-awareness, team insight, and accountability. With a combination of online learning, live workshops, and practical application.
Frequently Asked Questions About The AthleteDISC Profile
What is the AthleteDISC Profile?
The AthleteDISC Profile is a behavioral assessment designed specifically for athletes. It helps student-athletes better understand how they communicate, respond under pressure, and contribute to team dynamics, using sport-relevant language and scenarios.
How is AthleteDISC different from other DISC tools?
Unlike generic DISC assessments (like those often used under the “NCAA DISC” label), AthleteDISC speaks directly to athletes. It uses examples from training, competition, and recovery, making it highly relatable and applicable in sport.
How does the AthleteDISC improve an athlete’s performance on and off the ‘field’?
By helping athletes understand their natural behavioral style, the AthleteDISC shows how they’re likely to respond under pressure – like in competition, selection, or intense training. This insight helps athletes and those who work with them, better manage their stress, improve communication, and perform more consistently, both individually and as part of a team. Outside of competition, it also provides an understanding of how they contribute to the team, what motivates and drives them, and how to best communicate with them, which allows those who work with them to tailor their approach to get the best out of their athlete from all sides.
Can DISC help athletes with leadership and career development?
Yes. AthleteDISC is a tool that forms a foundation for developing leadership skills, emotional intelligence, communication, and career readiness – all by starting with self-awareness in a context athletes understand best.
Can coaches access their athletes’ results?
Yes. Coaches can use AthleteDISC to better understand their players’ needs, strengths, and preferred communication styles, allowing for more effective coaching relationships and team management. Additionally, Athlete Assessments provides a useful AthleteDISC One-Pager for each athlete that completes the profile, acting as a useful reference tool for coaches and staff working with them.
Do NCAA programs use AthleteDISC?
Yes. It’s used across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III by teams and athletics departments for student-athlete leadership development, team culture and dynamics, performance improvement, and athlete transition/career planning initiatives.
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Ready to use DISC Profiles specific for sport and get more out of your experience using DISC?
Contact our team to learn more about our tailored support.
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