CHEER is a Netflix docuseries following the competitive cheer team of Navarro College showing their ups and downs as they work to win a coveted national title. CHEER released on January 8 with only six episodes, shows the lives of a few cheerleaders who tell their stories about how this sport allowed them to be themselves, saves their lives, and help them find a parent figure within the head coach.
In the small town of Corsicana, Texas, Navarro college competitive cheer team are back to back national winners until the year of 2017-2018. Ever since that loss, head coach Monica Aldama wants nothing but perfection from her team. As each episode goes on, I built a connection to each one of the cheerleaders. The main reason this show is a hit for me is because it does an excellent job of showing that cheer isn’t always about standing on the sidelines smiling and cheering for a team. They explain that this is a sport that includes injuries and decisions that can affect the team.
The fellow cheerleaders that we get to hear their from are Morgan, Jerry, Lexi, L’Darius, Gabi, and the head coach, Aldama. Morgan’s story covers how cheer gave her a family and a mother figure in Aldama. Ever since she was little, her mother and father separated and neglected her and her brother. Her and brother lived in their father’s RV and had to fend for themselves with only bread and Top Ramen to eat, until their grandparents realized how bad the situation was and took full custody of her.
Jerry has been doing cheer his whole life with the little money, he has his mother works 2 jobs so he can keep cheering because it made him happy and allowed him to be himself. He unfortunately lost his mother due to cancer and he thought he would stop cheeri but his team did a Gofundme page, and within days he received $28,000. L’Darius’s story was the most emotional, with his mom going to jail and having to grow up with his four brothers who bully him because he was gay. They would call “fruity” and “girly”. Also, he talked about how cheer gave him the motivation in life when he was thinking about sucidie.
Lexi had a rough childhood when her parents divorced, that’s when she fell in love with cheer. The divorce hit her hard leading to her dropping out of high school sophomore year and getting into many fights. With cheer, Aldama gave her the discipline she needed and she is doing well in college and learned to walk away from conflict.
Gabi had always cheered since she was little and became famous worldwide for her flexibility and needle point move. She always wanted to be normal especially since she was homeschooled her whole life till college. Being on a YouTube series called Cheerleaders gave her a “cheer-lebrity” status, which meant she was always in the spotlight. If she made a mistake in any of her routines she is bashed on social media.
Head coach Monica Aldama was born and raised in Corsicana, Texas and did high school cheer and married her high school sweetheart. She hadn't planned on being a cheer coach, so she went to college and majored in business. She uses her business degree and cheer experience to better the team so they could come home with a national title. Thanks to her the team has back to back only losing one year on their streak. With her winning back to back she earned herself the nickname “The Queen '' and made a name for herself in the cheer world.
This show is a good docu series that highlights how intense the sport of cheer is through the lives of the cheerleaders. This show has gotten attention from people and celebrities like Ellen, who even had the cheerleaders come and perform their winning routine and talk about how the show has affected their lives.
In the small town of Corsicana, Texas, Navarro college competitive cheer team are back to back national winners until the year of 2017-2018. Ever since that loss, head coach Monica Aldama wants nothing but perfection from her team. As each episode goes on, I built a connection to each one of the cheerleaders. The main reason this show is a hit for me is because it does an excellent job of showing that cheer isn’t always about standing on the sidelines smiling and cheering for a team. They explain that this is a sport that includes injuries and decisions that can affect the team.
The fellow cheerleaders that we get to hear their from are Morgan, Jerry, Lexi, L’Darius, Gabi, and the head coach, Aldama. Morgan’s story covers how cheer gave her a family and a mother figure in Aldama. Ever since she was little, her mother and father separated and neglected her and her brother. Her and brother lived in their father’s RV and had to fend for themselves with only bread and Top Ramen to eat, until their grandparents realized how bad the situation was and took full custody of her.
Jerry has been doing cheer his whole life with the little money, he has his mother works 2 jobs so he can keep cheering because it made him happy and allowed him to be himself. He unfortunately lost his mother due to cancer and he thought he would stop cheeri but his team did a Gofundme page, and within days he received $28,000. L’Darius’s story was the most emotional, with his mom going to jail and having to grow up with his four brothers who bully him because he was gay. They would call “fruity” and “girly”. Also, he talked about how cheer gave him the motivation in life when he was thinking about sucidie.
Lexi had a rough childhood when her parents divorced, that’s when she fell in love with cheer. The divorce hit her hard leading to her dropping out of high school sophomore year and getting into many fights. With cheer, Aldama gave her the discipline she needed and she is doing well in college and learned to walk away from conflict.
Gabi had always cheered since she was little and became famous worldwide for her flexibility and needle point move. She always wanted to be normal especially since she was homeschooled her whole life till college. Being on a YouTube series called Cheerleaders gave her a “cheer-lebrity” status, which meant she was always in the spotlight. If she made a mistake in any of her routines she is bashed on social media.
Head coach Monica Aldama was born and raised in Corsicana, Texas and did high school cheer and married her high school sweetheart. She hadn't planned on being a cheer coach, so she went to college and majored in business. She uses her business degree and cheer experience to better the team so they could come home with a national title. Thanks to her the team has back to back only losing one year on their streak. With her winning back to back she earned herself the nickname “The Queen '' and made a name for herself in the cheer world.
This show is a good docu series that highlights how intense the sport of cheer is through the lives of the cheerleaders. This show has gotten attention from people and celebrities like Ellen, who even had the cheerleaders come and perform their winning routine and talk about how the show has affected their lives.