{ her edge }
A Rochester icon... Heather Crowe Clark BY JULIE M. MAY
She’s determined and smart. She’s a wife and a mother of three young children. Her daughters are ages 5 and 2 and her son is just five months old. She’s incredibly gorgeous and friendly… And she’s on the way up. Meet Heather Crowe-Clark owner of New York Icons, Inc. known as the best all-star cheer and tumbling gym and training facility in Western NY. Incredibly, Heather started her first gym specializing in cheerleading training when she was just 18 years old. At the time, she was going to college to be a teacher “I saw that I had a niche in this industry I was passionate for and wanted to evolve the sport for our area. NY cheer had really been behind for
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a long time. No teams had ever been to the cheerleading worlds from our state. I really didn’t even consider that I could fail.” Heather never looked back. She is extremely passionate about her businesses. “Cheerleading is a true sport. It takes incredible athleticism and team work. Icons offers so much in addition to All-Star Cheerleading, we also do choreography & Stunt Camps all over the country, we work with many of the area’s high schools, we offer Levels 1-5 tumble classes and even Birthday Parties. It is my goal to elevate the level of cheerleading in New York by creating a gym that educates, trains and nurtures our athletes at an elite level.” After a few successful years in her hometown of Bath NY, Heather saw a huge market for cheerleading in Rochester where she later
brought her company. Currently New York Icons is located on West Ridge Road in Greece. Icons took off, which lead her to expand the business, opening gyms in Arkport & Buffalo. Heather, her director and Managers are planning on opening a second Rochester location in Fairport this October. “People are willing to drive incredible distances to be a part of Icons. Our interest from communities all over New York State is huge. I really put a lot of thought into the benefit of any new location. For not only the community, but also Icons. Each location we have opened has been extremely successful.” For now Heather wants to focus on the 4 Locations she has, but is not opposed to expansion in the future. Heather’s typical day starts before 7 AM, getting her oldest daughter ready for Kindergarten.