Cheerleading is not just cute uniforms and yelling, but an intense sport that requires loads of teamwork, perseverance, and bravery. Netflix recently launched another original series called Cheer, which follows the cheer team at a community college, called Navarro, in the small town of Corsicana, Texas. Their coach, Monica Aldama, is a well educated, dedicated, and successful coach of the squad who demands perfection from her team. Her strict coaching style helps turn around the lives of some of these young adults, while acting as a mentor to each of them. Each year, the super-elite cheerleaders of Navarro train year-round to win another title at the National Cheerleading Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Cheer tackles stereotypes of cheerleaders, and how transformative the sport can be for young people who may be struggling in other areas of life. The series especially follows a few team members who have had rough childhoods, and the director does an amazing job of enticing viewers to rally around and support them. Their pasts may have been difficult, but they all channel that into being the best team member they can be and winning at Daytona. The start of the series focuses on who will be “on mat”, as they say, which means who will actually be competing at Daytona. With injuries so prevalent in the sport of cheerleading, you never know who may be competing on the actual day, so everyone must be prepared.
By the end of the short series, viewers will find themselves rooting hard for Navarro and each of the team members the documentary has followed. We follow along the ups and downs of practices, tension between team members, and tough decisions the coaches have to make. Monica’s calmness, dedication, poise, determination, and confidence really stood out to me as a former athlete. It goes to show how one can be an effective coach, but still be a positive, uplifting mentor without degrading a team or playing favorites. It is really interesting to watch the cheer routines and hear the different slang terms they use in cheerleading. With that being said, I highly recommend this six-episode Netflix original! Give it a watch, I promise you will not be disappointed!