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Chalese Connors
Director of Athletics |
Connors begins her sixth year as the Director of Athletics at Texas Woman’s University. She was previously the sports information director for the Pioneers from 1995-2000, adding assistant AD and senior woman administrator duties the last two years. From July 2000 to August 2001, Connors worked for the Southland Conference as the assistant media relations director for the NCAA Division I league.
During 2005-06, Connors oversaw a banner year for TWU Athletics as all five sports advanced to the postseason in the same season for the first time in a decade. Four sports - tennis, volleyball, gymnastics and basketball - accomplished the feat during the 1995-96 season.
Connors has extensive media and public relations experience and brings that along with her familiarity with the Pioneers to her position as AD. With a passion for women’s athletics and a genuine concern for the welfare of student-athletes, Connors established priority registration for student-athletes, hired the program’s first soccer coach and revived the TWU Athletics Council in her first year.
In 2004, she added a full-time compliance coordinator and full-time assistant athletic trainer to the TWU staff, enhancing areas that serve student-athletes daily. With the help of the Greater Denton Sports Commission (GDSC), TWU co-hosted the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships in 2003, which the Pioneers won, and again in 2004.
Continuing with the department’s growth, Connors has added full-time assistant coaches in all five sports. In 2006, Connors will have an assistant director for marketing and operations for the first time. She has also increased the revenue and in-kind agreements with the Pioneers’ corporate sponsorship program, adding a top-level Platinum package.
Funding student-athlete scholarships and finding new revenue sources are priorities for TWU Athletics. Other challenges include the construction of the new on-campus soccer facility which has an anticipated completion date at the end of September 2006.
Connors served as chair of the 2005-06 Division II Women’s Soccer Committee which administers the national championship. She served on the committee as chair of the Midwest Region from 2002-2006. She is also a 2006 graduate of the NACWAA/HERS Institute for Administrative Advancement conducted by the National Association of Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA).
Connors, a native Texan and Aubrey resident, is active in the community. She is currently in the first year of a four-year term on the Board of Directors for United Way of Denton County. She served two terms on the executive board of the GDSC as the group’s treasurer and currently is on the board of directors. She also represents TWU in the Denton Chamber of Commerce and participates in several ministries at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.
Connors and her husband, Sean, have a daughter, Makenna, born in January 2003.
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