About Us – Urbana Recreation Council

2025 Coaches

Flag Coaches

Amanda Cunningham Brandi Berkheimer-Tan Erin Conto Rachel Vaichus

Amanda Cunningham

Hi! My name is Amanda Cunningham. I will be one of your flag coaches this year! I am a mom of three. My son Logan is entering 5th grade and I have two cheerleaders, Lily is going into 3rd and Reese is entering 1st grade in the fall. We have been a part of the youth cheer program for the past two years. I can’t wait for the season to get started!

Brandi Berkheimer-Tan

My name is Brandi Tan and I will be coaching Flag Cheer this season! This will be my 2nd season as a Cheer coach and I am so excited to be returning.

My husband and I both grew up in Brookeville, MD and moved to Urbana in 2011. I am the owner of Posh Bridal in Urbana and we just celebrated our 13th year in business!

We have 5 kids! Our 4 boys have been apart of the Urbana Baseball program for 11 years now and my husband has had the pleasure of head coaching all of them at some point over the last 11 years. This will be their 3rd year with Urbana football.

Bryce is our oldest he will be a sophomore in high school and will also be on the JV football team for Urbana High. Reese will be entering 9th grade. Landon will be a 7th grader at WK and will be on the JV Football team this fall. Tristan will be a 4th grader at KE and he will be on Pony D2 this fall! Last but definitely not least is our 1 and only daughter Tiegan! She is so excited to be returning to the sidelines this fall.

I am looking forward to an amazing Fall 2025 Season where I will be living at the football stadium cheering on the Hawks!!

Erin Conto

My name is Erin Conto and I am so excited to be coaching the Flag Cheerleaders this season! This will be my third year coaching the team, and hopefully many more to come! I can’t wait to see my girls from last season, and look forward to meeting some new faces that will make our Hawks team shine!

My husband and I have three amazing daughters, Kenley, Sage, and Joey. Kenley is a Sophomore at Urbana, has been cheering for seven years, and looks forward to cheering for Urbana High in the fall. I am super excited that Kenley has also volunteered to help with our flag team this season! This will be Sage’s third year on the team and she will also be starting 1st grade in the fall. And last, but definitely not least, our newest addition to the family, little Joey Bean will be cheering on her big sisters from the stands! We built our house in Urbana 4 years ago, and couldn’t have imagined a better neighborhood for our girls to grow up in. We have made many great friends, and love the Hawks pride that is spread throughout this tight-knit community.

I started cheering in the 3^rd grade and continued through high school along with cheering competitively. I am a full-time working mom, and started coaching in 2023 after Joey was born. I wanted to do something for myself, and coaching these young girls was incredibly rewarding and just what I needed, especially since I was also able to spend time with my two eldest. Getting back into the cheer world has brought me great joy and I love getting to know all of our athletes! I can’t wait for an incredible 2025 season, Go Hawks!

Rachel Vaichus

Mini Pony D2 Coaches

TBD TBD

TBD

Mini Pony D1 Coaches

Ashleigh Coe Laura Knight TBD

Ashleigh Coe

My name is Ashleigh Coe and I am thrilled to be a Mini Pony Football Cheer coach! I started cheering in third grade and continued through college. In high school I was on both Damascus’ Varsity team and the only co-ed competitive team in the DMV area at the time. I first went to Gardner-Webb University on a cheer scholarship. My partner and I competed and placed 4th at Cheersport’s National Partner Stunt Competition. I then transferred and graduated from Virginia Tech where I also was on the Varsity cheer team. I have taught summer camps for Cheer Xpress, coached at three high schools in Montgomery County and coached a nationally ranked level 3 competitive team. I am excited to teach our youngest Hawks the amazing sport of cheerleading!

I have lived in Urbana for 18 years. My husband Jordan and I have identical twin boys who will play at Urbana High and our daughter will be on the mini pony cheer team!

Laura Knight

My name is Laura Knight and I am thrilled to coach alongside Ashleigh on the Mini Pony squad!

My husband Kirk and I have just celebrated our 11th year anniversary and we live in Urbana with our two amazing kids. Jackson will be entering the 5th grade in the fall while Autumn will be going into 3rd. Jackson and Autumn also have big brother Aidan as a wonderful role model to look up to.

Kirk also coaches Jackson's football team with the Urbana Youth Football program. When we aren't shuttling the kids around and volunteering, I work as a broker and also teach Pilates at the local TONED studio, and Kirk heads a commercial real estate firm located in Montgomery and Frederick Counties.

TBD

Pony D2 Coaches

Jane Coburn Julia Wu

Jane Coburn

Hi! I’m Jane, and I am a mother to four awesome kids - Kingston (14), Jaxon (12), Callie (9), and Evie (3). My husband, Zac, and I moved our family to Urbana from northern VA in the fall of 2021, and our only regret is not moving here sooner. We couldn’t be happier here in this community! Zac & I also own and operate Coburn Electric, LLC, and we have been fortunate to meet so many wonderful neighbors through this.

Callie & I are both returning for our third year of cheer, and we couldn’t be more excited to see old friends and meet new ones! Please reach out if you have any questions!

Julia Wu

Pony D1 Coaches

Jamie Carr Julia Wu Mary Ellen Callura

Jamie Carr

My name is Jamie Carr and I am so excited to be coaching the Pony Cheerleaders this season! This will be my fourth year coaching the team. I can’t wait to help the Pony Cheerleaders Shine on the sidelines this year!

My husband and I have two wonderful daughters – and they are both cheerleaders! Aubree is 10 and goes to Sugarloaf Elementary. This will be Aubree’s fifth year with URC Cheer. Callie is 7 and this will be Callie’s fourth year. My husband, Brian, is also involved with Urbana Rec as a Coach of Aubree’s 10U softball team. Along with my cousin who also lives in Urbana, we opened and have been co-owners of the Dream Dinners Meal Prep store here in Urbana for the past 16 years. It’s challenging, fun, and a lot of work to be a small business owner. We enjoy being actively involved in the Urbana Community. I am looking forward to another great season with Urbana Rec Youth Cheer! I know our team is going to have so much fun, learn some new skills, and make some great new friends along the way. Get excited! Go Hawks!

Julia Wu

Mary Ellen Callura

My name is Mary Ellen, and I am so excited to help coach Pony this year. I was a cheerleader for six years growing up and was often awarded "Most Spirited" on my squad. I'm pumped to bring that same enthusiasm to Pony as we cheer on the Hawks! My daughter, Scarlet, will be cheering this year for her fifth season.

When I'm not on the sidelines, you can find me at Frederick Community College where I teach nursing students, or at home taking care of Scarlet's baby sister and big brother. Before I switched careers and became a nurse, I was an elementary school teacher and Reading Specialist so I have lots of experience with 1st and 2nd graders. We're going to have a ton of fun this season!

JV D2 Coaches

Gretchen Kendall Michelle Ingram

Gretchen Kendall

My name is Gretchen and I am so excited to be coaching cheerleading this fall. I grew up in Urbana and cheered for ten years including for Urbana high school. I have three daughters that keep me busy and a wonderful “girl dad” husband who helps make all things possible.

I look forward to spending time in the best community to help the girls learn skills, make new friends, believe in themselves, and spread cheer

Michelle Ingram

JV D1 Coaches

Jen McMahon Tracy Hayat

Jen McMahon

I joined the Hawks family in 2017 when my daughter started cheering on the Flag squad. After a fun first year, I was given the opportunity to join the coaching staff in 2018 and am beyond excited for the upcoming season.
Growing up not too far from Urbana, I began cheering at a young age and continued throughout high school where our competition squad brought home many 1st place titles. My experience has given me the ability to provide a positive and healthy environment where kids can thrive and build character.
We moved to Ijamsville in 2016 and love everything about our tight-knit community. We have four kids, an adult child, a 6th grader at Windsor Knolls, who will be a returning cheerleader this year, and a seven and five year old. I'm looking forward to another fun cheer season! GO HAWKS!

Tracy Hayat

My name is Tracy Hayat and this will be my 10^th year coaching cheer and my 12^th year being a part of the Urbana Rec (URC) Family. All 4 of my children have/are in the URC programs. My oldest (Sophie) is a sophomore and now does HS sports. I also have a 8th grade pom (Aliyah), 3rd grade footballer (Zayden) and a 6th grader cheerleader (Aria). Growing up I loved to dance and participated in youth cheer and poms. Thank you for this opportunity to not only be involved in my daughter’s cheer experience, but yours as well. I’m looking forward to another great season!! GO Hawks!!

Varsity Coaches

Crystal Spicer Jamie Kerns

Crystal Spicer

My name is Crystal Spicer. I am a mom of three kiddos. Camryn (11), Braydon (8), and Jaxon (3). I teach fifth graders here in Urbana. I grew up cheerleading myself about 9 years between Rec and allstar programs. I’ve coached a range of ability levels over the years. I started with Level 4-5 high school allstar teams then moved to THS JV before starting my family. After I had kids I joined the rec family. This will be my sixth year coaching with Urbana. I am so excited to start another year here and look forward to a fabulous year ahead of us

Jamie Kerns

My love for cheerleading dates back to my early childhood where I cheered in Damascus from 2nd grade until my senior year of high school! I have lived in Urbana for 10 years now and have two daughters, Kylie (11) and Lucca (9)! When Kylie asked to join cheer, I was given the opportunity to jump back into the cheer world as a coach and it was the best decision ever! To coach these amazing young athletes alongside the dedicated, loving and passionate coaching team is something I feel very lucky to be a part of! It is also incredibly special being able to experience this with my daughters, life really has come full circle since my elementary days in rec cheerleading! I am so excited to begin another fun, memorable season with the best Cheer Family!! LETS GO HAWKS!

Urbana Youth Cheer