A former cheerleader on the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks’ cheerleading team, Connor Charlesworth is now the head cheer coach.
“I was on the team before I started coaching,” Charlesworth said. “I was on the team for five years where we got second in the nation at [Universal Cheerleaders Association] nationals.”
Last year, Charlesworth was the assistant head coach of the team. Charlesworth explains that he is really striving for the team to do well and thrive. He explained that he runs practices so that the athletes can enjoy it. They turn up the tunes and joke around.
“At the same time we get our job done and try and get new skills every day,” Charlesworth said. “The reason we have been so good in the cheer world is because we have fun but we also are trying new things. We want to be doing just as hard of skills that you see all the big D1 schools doing, and for the most part we are doing that.”
He hasn’t tried to change too much up on the team, but one thing he has implemented is running. The cheerleaders have a timed mile before every practice.
“It is to get them in the best possible shape,” Charlesworth said.
Charlesworth explained how this year is slightly different because there are only four upperclassmen on the team. Some could see this as dangerous territory due to the lack of experience, but not this head coach.
“I think the best part of this team this year is all the young people,” Charlesworth said. “I believe that this team has as much, if not more, talent than we have ever had and they are all extremely young.”
He explained that this is also a benefit because they are young, very coachable and willing to listen. The upperclassmen are the same way which is what makes the team really mesh, according to Charlesworth.
Like most coaches, Charlesworth’s goal for the team is to win.
“I want to win,” Charlesworth said. “It’s a little different because we only have one competition but the goal is to always win. At the same time, it is also to help build better people, to teach them about managing their time, and how to handle their problems and to get ready for the real world outside of college.”
One of his main goals is to change the culture of people not seeing that cheerleaders are athletes. The athletic directors at CMU and himself think of the cheer team as athletes, which means they have the same requirements as all the other sports.
“I’m tired of, in this world, people do not see cheerleaders as athletes,” Charlesworth said.
With this attitude, he makes sure to work them like athletes. They have conditioning and weights two times a week, along with going to multiple sporting events and public outings.
“The only difference in my eyes is the scholarships, which we don’t receive any,” Charlesworth said.
That hasn’t stopped this team from building and being top five in the nation for the past six years. This year Charlesworth wants the team to win, of course. He has the experience from the cheerleading side at nationals and from being the assistant head coach. The school will see how the team does with him at the reigns.
“For nationals, we expect to win, but we will see what happens when we get there, anything can happen,” Charlesworth said.
