In film and television shows alike, cheerleaders are rarely taken seriously as complex characters and competitive athletes. But the new Netflix show Cheer, set in Texas, finally shows cheerleaders to be exactly that. (Disclaimer: Texas Monthly associate editor Leif Reigstad was interviewed for the documentary.)
The six-part docuseries follows the cheer team at Navarro College, a junior college of about 10,000 students in Corsicana, in the months leading up to the 2019 NCAA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championships in Daytona Beach. For years, cheerleaders from all over the country have traveled to Corsicana for a chance to compete on the Navarro cheer team, known for consistently earning top spots at the NCAA National and Grand National Championships since 2000. The way we prepare, you keep going until you get it right, and then you keep going until you cant get it wrong, Monica Aldama, who heads Navarros team, says in the documentary. A Corsicana native, previous cheerleader, and now coach, Aldama had, up to 2019, brought home thirteen national championship titles to Navarro in the past two decadesher feats are so widely recognized within the cheer community that shes nicknamed The Queen.
Part gymnastics, part dance routine, and part Cirque du Soleil, competitive cheer belongs in its own category of sports. They are the toughest athletes Ive ever filmed, Greg Whiteley, Cheers director, said in a recent interview. I dont think that was something I would have thought would be true before I started exploring this world. Anyone in the cheer world is familiar with the intensity thats required to excel in this excruciating sport, yet Cheer shows that it can be a fairly insular worldeven Corsicana residents interviewed for the documentary are unaware of Navarros cheer prestige.
Cheer offers a corrective to that. As the Navarro team works to develop their two and a half minute routine throughout the docuseries, they flex their tumbling skills and impressive stunts, such as a pyramid formation that involves multiple cheerleaders flying through the air and landing on other members shoulders. But the documentary also places their falls and misstepsas well as the injuries stemming from themon full display. As a viewer, its brutal to watch as squad members get tossed into the air, and you find yourself crossing your fingers in hopes that theyre caught. Boys groan as their backs give out while holding up teammates, girls wince from bruised ribs; trips to the ER arent uncommon. But the Navarro College cheerleaders are willing to endure long hours and risky routines for the chance to keep training. If Monica believes in me enough to put me in, then I should be able to trust myself, Morgan Simianer, a flyer, says in Cheer. Id do anything for that woman.
Throughout its six episodes, Cheer follows five main characters (Simianer included) and the struggles they face amidst training. The stories include that of Gabi Butler, a cheerfluencer whos gained an impressive following on social media and faces an overwhelming pressure from herself, her parents, and the cheer community to be perfect; Simianer, who was abandoned by her parents as a teenager and who was left to live with her brother in a trailer; and LaDarius Marshall, an openly gay male cheerleader who felt rejected by his family in Florida. Each squad member sees Aldama as their champion, sometimes even as a second mother. Although they are bound by cheerleading, their ties typically extend outside of the sport, toofor instance, after one squad member has old nude photos of her leaked by someone she fought with in the past, Aldama helps her go to the police and report it.
While Aldama seems to have their best interests at heart, shes also tough about disciplining her cheerleaders on the mat and off. Students have a team tutor, and Aldama enforces punishments in practice for tardies and absences in classes outside of cheer. Whenever someone isnt caught or a move isnt completed, Aldama makes the entire team do push-ups. And in one instance, Aldama chastises a cheerleader who gets injured while competing outside of Navarro (some cheerleaders take on extra cheerleading outside of their extracurricular at school) by making him run through a routine while limpingand toward the end of it, hes on his knees crying from the pain. While a regimen is certainly needed to groom national champions, her methods are sometimes questionable.
At its core, Cheer homes in on the idea of trust, as much as the trust that squad members have in each other, in themselves, and what it takes to develop it. While dealing with their own personal traumas, the characters tackle both the physical extremities and emotional barriers of the sportwhich, in turn, is a critical part of cheerleading. If one person is off either physically or mentally, it could affect the whole team or send a pyramid tumbling down. Although the characters challenges are personal, theyre often solved with the help of their teammates: one character, Lexi Brumback, comes off as a loner in the beginning of the series (when shes instead trying to avoid drama, because of her past of getting into violent fights). As she begins to open up to her teammates, and sees that they accept her, she gains confidence in herself as both an athlete and a young woman.
Instead of capitalizing on tired cheerleading stereotypes, Cheer presents the sports harsh realities, from the physical brutality involved to the fact that theres no professional career to follow. (Unlike football, basketball, or soccer, college cheerleading is the end of the line for competitive cheer athletes.) By the time the team finally reaches Daytona, viewers find themselves not just rooting for Navarro athletes to win a national championship. Theyre also cheering on people who are trying their best to lift one another up.
Link:
Netflixs Cheer Docuseries Sheds Light on the Sports Harsh Realities - Texas Monthly
- Las Vegas author Lissa Townsend Rodgers sheds light on historic women in organized crime - Las Vegas Weekly - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Meta sheds more light on how it is evolving Llama 3 training it relies for now on almost 50000 Nvidia H100 GPU, but ... - TechRadar - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- The Nigerian currency sheds off N500 against the US dollar - Business Insider Africa - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- How the Princess of Wales' story sheds light on the importance of cancer screening - CBC.ca - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Library approved for storage shed thanks in-part to a $10000 donation from Friends of the Library - mykxlg.com - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Wake County students build sheds to help with nationwide demand - CBS17.com - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Quantum tornado sheds light on black holes - Innovation News Network - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Trent Brown sheds light on his decision to sign with Bengals in free agency - Stripe Hype - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Revealed: documents shed light on shadowy US far-right fraternal order - The Guardian US - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Fire destroys home and sheds in Troy | Local News | foxbangor.com - FOX Bangor/ABC 7 News and Stories - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Insider Sheds Light on Stefon Diggs Future With Bills After Cryptic Post - Heavy.com - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Sister Wives Star Garrison Brown's Sister Sheds Light on His Mental Health Struggles After Tragic Death - TooFab - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS) sheds 3.7% this week, as yearly returns fall more in line with earnings growth - Yahoo Finance - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Affidavit sheds light on charges against Tell City pastor - Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW) - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Gisele Bndchen Sheds Light on Life After Tom Brady's 2022 Divorce: The Only Time Something Is Fixed Is When You ... - EssentiallySports - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Toba Supereruption Sheds Light on Early Human Migration - Mirage News - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Miami Dolphins LB Anthony Walker Sheds New Light on Significant Health Scare - Pro Football Network - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- Tyrese Haliburton sheds harsh truth on sports betting: I'm a prop - Sportskeeda - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- The Daily Show Sheds Viewers with Co-Host Format - imdb - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- French tax officials to hunt out undeclared sheds and verandas - The Connexion - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]
- D'Angelo Russell sheds light on subtle disparity between sharing locker room with LeBron James & Kobe Bryant - Sportskeeda - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Steph Curry sheds light on his most savage trash-talking incident, eerily similar to Larry Bird's - Sportskeeda - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- NOPD body cam footage sheds light on 'high-risk' arrest, use-of-force investigation - NOLA.com - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- DEI-vestment: University of Florida sheds 'inclusion' for innovation Minding The Campus - Minding The Campus - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Bedford volleyball coach sheds light on investigation, leave of absence - Monroe Evening News - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Can World Hunger Be Eradicated by 2030? New Research Sheds Light on Key Puzzle Piece - SciTechDaily - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Alex Kurtzman Sheds Light on Star Trek Discovery's Tough Road to Season 5 - Den of Geek - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Is the iPhone SE 4 Worth the Wait? A New Report Sheds Light On it - Gizchina.com - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- PEPE sheds 8% in 24 hours: Are investors losing confidence? - AMBCrypto News - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Fire moves from shed to house, damaging home in Cloquet - Northern News Now - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- "COPA 71" documentary sheds light on forgotten Women's World Cup - Euronews - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Photo Series Sheds Light on Homelessness with Pets - Mirage News - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- 'I thank the firefighters:' Neighbor on cars and shed catching fire in Bedford County - WSET - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- New Study Sheds Light on Where India's People Came From - The Wire - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Who Was Behind Sam Altman's Ouster From OpenAI? New Reports Sheds A Light On Key Executives' Role - Micro - Benzinga - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Romanian stock indices start week in red, TTS sheds most - SeeNews - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- XRPs gradual appreciation mystery: Ripple CTO sheds light on it - AMBCrypto News - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Are Edibles Safer Than Smoking? New Study Sheds Light on Cannabis and Heart Problems - Verywell Health - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- New Protein Structure Sheds Light on Anti-Cancer Immunotherapies - Mirage News - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Whale menopause sheds light on human evolutionary mystery - The Borneo Post - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Podcast: In the Shed Ep 11 - BikePortland - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Sponsor spotlight: Winter-proof your space - The Original Mini Barns' guide to durable sheds and maintenance tips - My Edmonds News - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- RTX 4080 Super teardown sheds light on power connector controversy PCB shows traces for two 8-pin connectors ... - Tom's Hardware - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Israeli-American activist Peled sheds light on decades of terror in Palestine - Middle East Monitor - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Research sheds insight on replacement heifers - Beef Magazine - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Being a YouTuber Musician is Way More Expensive Than You Think: Guitarist Sheds Light on Costs of Online Career - Ultimate Guitar - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- CDC Sheds Light on High HIV Risk Among Trans Women - POZ - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Metal shed cave in kills one, injures several others - China Daily - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Former island resident sheds light on Middle East crisis - Kodiak Daily Mirror - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Home Items You Really Shouldn't Be Storing In An Outdoor Shed - House Digest - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- 'Where is Wendy Williams?' Documentary Trailer Sheds Light on Icon's Personal Struggles - Just Jared - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Cha Eun Woo sheds a tear in 'Entity' concept film & photos - allkpop - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Fire damages 6 vehicles, 1 shed in Tornillo - KTSM 9 News - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- National survey sheds new light on outdoor participation - Newton County Times - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Research Sheds New Light on Origin of Syphilis, Rescues Columbus' Reputation - Science & Health - Haaretz - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Insider Sheds Light On Recent Chicago Bears-Washington Trade Rumors - Sports Mockery - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Kelly Clarkson Sheds Light on the Health Diagnosis That Kickstarted Her Weight Loss - Parade Magazine - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- MAFS star sheds light on extreme wedding day filming: 'Everyone's really wasted' - Yahoo Lifestyle Australia - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- L.A Coliseum Controversy Silenced as NASCAR Insider Sheds Light on Severity of the Storm - EssentiallySports - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Transient accused of starting fire in shed by Sunnyside Museum - Yakima Herald-Republic - February 7th, 2024 [February 7th, 2024]
- Police report sheds light on Redmond man's death from cold exposure after crash, fall on rocks above Dry Canyon - KTVZ - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- DC sheds light on 'House of Brainiacs' Superman crossover in April 2024 AIPT - AIPT - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Eviction filing sheds light on 5-year-olds deadly fall from KC apartment - WDAF FOX4 Kansas City - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- 'She adored Harry' Robert Hardman sheds light on The Queen's 'special relationship' with grandson - GB News - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Cam Newton sheds light on Justin Fields' late hits with eye-opening, personal anecdote - NBC Sports Chicago - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Research sheds new light on moon rock formation solving major puzzle in lunar geology - Phys.org - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Novel mineral sheds light on rare-earth formation - China Daily - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Tangoe's Analysis Sheds Light on Taming Cloud Costs in 2024 - Techiexpert.com - TechiExpert.com - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Controversial F-Factor diet creator sheds uptown condo for $24 million - Crain's New York Business - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Tesla market valuation sheds $94 billion in first weeks of 2024 - CBT Automotive News - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Aryna Sabalenka Sheds Light on New Superstitious 'Routine' with Her Physiotherapist -'Anything for the Win' - EssentiallySports - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- 'He Didn't Have the Courage' - Novak Djokovic Sheds Light on Ill-Tempered Interaction With Heckler at Australian Open - EssentiallySports - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Milwaukee Bucks' Adrian Griffin Sheds Light On Giannis Antetokounmpo's Sudden Injury Absence Vs. Cavs - Wisconsin Sports Heroics - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- At the End of This Once-Barren Yard Is a Shed That's Now a Cozy Hideaway - Domino - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- San Antonio shed fire spreads, causing $100,000 damage: Space heater suspected - FOX 29 - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Body found following shed fire | Community - The Leader News - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- A Royal Expert Sheds Light on Why Kate Middleton and King Charles' Surgeries Were Announced on the Same Day - Yahoo Lifestyle Australia - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Tribune-Star Editorial: CANDLES again sheds light on darkness of hate speech - Terre Haute Tribune Star - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Digital mortgage firm Blend loses $478M, sheds more of workforce - The Real Deal - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]
- Interview Sheds Light On Toyotas Thinking About EVs - CleanTechnica - August 20th, 2022 [August 20th, 2022]