Heroes

SEASON 23/24

Captain: Kimberley Geerdink & Vlera Mularama
Coaches: Anna Leinarts & Simone Schols

SEASON 24/25

Coaches: Anna Leinarts & Simone Schols

Hi, I’m Anna, I am 23 and am doing a masters in Health and Social psychology. I have been with UM cheerleading since 2020 and have been an athlete in Heroes from 2020-2023 and coached them for the 2023-2024 season. During the 2023-2024 season I was also an athelte in Legends and in TeamNL All-girl.

In the upcoming year I am excited to be able to coach Heroes again along side my trusty co-coach Simone. We are determined to make this year even better than the last!
Hello, my name is Simone Schols, 25 years old and have been doing cheer since 2017. Last year was my first year as a coach and I found it a very fun and rewarding experience. I look forward to another year together with my trusty co-coach, Anna.

Captain: Puck Van der Wee

Hi everyone, my name is Puck, I’m Dutch, and currently studying International Business at UM. I started cheer 2 years ago and coming season I’ll be captain of heroes. I love performing routines together with the team, and I look forward to another season of amazing performances and fun competitions!

General information about our Team

Heroes is our senior all-girl level 3 team. Heroes participates at university competitions such as Royals Cup but also at Varsity competitions such as German All Level Championship.

What level team is it?                
Heroes will most likely be a level 3 team in the coming season. This is always subjected to change depending on the need and skill for team. Level 3 is a level of cheerleading that is a bit more suitable for beginners. Cheerleading levels go from 1-7 and we have found that level 3 offers a fun mix of stunts and creativity. Some level 3 stunts will be at chest(prep) level, some will be at an extended level. We combine skills, and have skills like full up to prep lib, or switch up to prep stretch. These are just fancy cheer terms for doing a 360 on one leg, or starting with your left leg and switching to your right. 

FAQ

  1. What days and times does the Heroes Team practice?
    Tuesdays: 21h – 23h and Fridays: 21h – 23h                                                                                                                         
  2. What are you looking at during the tryouts? Any skills required to get on the team? 
    There are no specific skills required to get into the Heroes team. We look for spirit, coordination and attitude. We also try to look at how easy you learn and pick up our feedback to see if our coaching style is a good fit for you.  And we do definitely love some dancing, tumbling and strong people! Any sport background is welcome!                                                                                                           

  3. What is usually happening in practices?     
    At the beginning of each practice we will check attendance and inform the team of the plan for the practice. During our practice we always start with a small conditioning warmup that lasts 5 minutes, short and sweaty. Then we spend some time on stretching. Then we start with some basic stunting to get used to our groups and make sure we can work together. Then we usually work a little on some new or current skills. At the end of the practice we work on putting together the things we practiced in a sequence.  

  4. Competitions that the team will be competing                   
    This year Heroes will be competing at Lowlands and at Dutch Nationals. These two competitions take place in the Netherlands. We might get a cool extra performance to do here or there but these aren’t confirmed yet. Additional competitions may also be added if the team feels like doing so.

  5. Competitions of last year
    Last year the Heroes competed in a competition called German All level Championship (7th place) and the summer All Level championship (5th place). And a special performance competition called Royals Cups (3rd place). 

  6. Why it is important to be mandatory practices ?            
    In cheerleading the stunts we do are performed by 4 people. If one of these people is absent it means that 3 people cannot practice or will have a hard time practicing. 

    Additionally, cheerleading is THE sport in which trust is incredibly important. You literally trust your flyer and your bases with your life, it is therefore super important to us but even more so to your teammates that you attend all practices. 

HOUSE RULES OF THE TEAM

Within the Heroes we don’t have many rules. Our big thing is that we will never comment on how someone looks. Any body type is a cheer body and anyone can do any position.

We value that people feel good coming to practice and try to have an open environment where you can speak up for what you need. We do not talk bad about eachother.
The idea is that the Heroes listen when coaches speak but also that the coaches listen when the Heroes speak and ask questions. The heroes are open to new experiences and open to trying new things. The Heroes try to implement feedback as they are given it even if it is just a quick try once.

We value commitment and hard work and the coaches will be strict on those that are not contributing their part to the team.