Cheer

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The stakes on the mat are high, but for these cheerleaders, the only thing more brutal than their workouts and more exceptional than their performances are the stories of adversity and triumph behind the athletes themselves.

From the team behind Last Chance U, Netflix’s new documentary series "Cheer" follows the competitive cheerleaders of the 14-time National Championship winning team at Navarro College in Corsicana, TX.

Over the course of six episodes join the team members as they face injuries, sacrifice, personal setbacks and triumphs, all leading up to one nail-biting and adrenaline pumping final competition at the National Championship.

Promo:

Original air date: 1/8/20

[ElectricBoogaloo]

local article/interview with Navarro head coach Monica Aldama and members of the 2019 team

How Netflix's superb 'Cheer' dispels your assumptions about cheerleading

Cheer is the docmentary that hard working cheerleaders have long deserved

9 of Navarro's routines at nationals

[pasdetrois]

Excellent documentary/series. The opposite of the horrible screaming coaches/parents we've seen on other cheerleading/dance shows.

Haven't seen the final episode but the Washington Post review says filmmakers were limited in what they could show because the competition promoters tightly control media rights. Can't wait to see who won the national championship.

Curious about what other viewers feel about Gabi Butler's parents' insane aggressive push to "monetize" her talent (her father's stated goal). Meanwhile Gabi is exhausted, and she also explains that she was home schooled and that her education was not a priority.

I like that filmmakers took time to portray the cheerleaders who struggled to cheer due to lack of parenting, homelessness, poverty and violence. Since cheering ends for most at high school or college, I hope these kids have other plans for their futures.

Really like the head coach. She's a compassionate tiger (or maybe I should say Bulldog).

I worry about the high incidents of injury. At least one of the cheerleaders has had four concussions.

 

Edited January 11, 2020 by pasdetrois

[TrixieTrue]

I binge-watched this show. (Former cheerleader, although not at this level. And it was just over 20 years ago, so...it's a different game now). I love this kind of stuff. Back in the early or mid 2000s, there was a show about Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School and their all girl squad. 

I wish we could have seen more about how they built up to the high speed that they were doing their stunts at. Most of the practice footage shown was at full speed and I think the overall process would have been interesting to watch. And I'd also like to know if they designed their own pyramids and the transitions and how they come up with the ideas. 

I was spoiled with the ending, since I was looking up all the cheerleaders on instagram. 

I loved the show overall. Except for that Texas culture teacher. And I hope Lexi can find her way. What happened to her was criminal (literally) and I wonder if the girl publishing those photos faced any kind of consequence. 

 

[fountain]

I loved the show as I really enjoy cheerleading. I do think Gabi’s parents were too much into selling her imagine.

I was so glad Jerry went on to a school where he got a scholarship and could get a full degree. It was great Jerry got to mat and competed as he was the best!

The really good looking one that stayed a 3rd year, I felt bad for her childhood life but she seemed to just be avoiding moving forward. I don’t even know what an associates degree is so I don’t even know if they are useful to get a career.

Okay the lady who taught them about Texas was offensive as hell, it is hard for me to imagine with her language and comments on camera that she wouldn’t immediately be terminated. She did not do the college any favours.

Some of the classes they took didn’t seem real for post secondary education, it seemed more like high school.

Okay from these shows I realize I know nothing about sports and academic opportunities. I would have thought someone like Gabi would be so in demand in college sports that she could get a full ride to law school or something like that but I realize it might not work that way as maybe you don’t actually have time for school.

Edited January 11, 2020 by fountain

[meatball77]

I suspect that Gabi didn't have the academic chops for a four year school.  It seems that she was homeschooled badly. 

I also wonder if she would be able to continue to market herself like she does if she was at a big division 1 school.  I don't think that cheerleaders are division 1 athletes so she wouldn't lose her eligibility because of the things she did in high school but that doesn't mean that a school would allow her to market herself like she does now.

I think this show was more interesting because it was at a junior college instead of a division 1 squad filled with rich kids.  The squad seeming to be more male than female was also interesting.

As for the gal that stayed for a third year, I don't know what she would benefit academically from that.  An associates is the first two years of a four year degree.  There are a few careers where the associates is enough (childcare, some lower level nursing positions).  If she's not taking out any loans a third year in a place where she's learning to handle herself academically and keep her life together.

Those girls need to be wearing helmets when they are practicing.  Something that would give them a little protection when they are dropped on the head.

[pasdetrois]

Quote

Back in the early or mid 2000s, there was a show about Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School and their all girl squad. 

This past year there was a new show that featured Dunbar's coach and her daughter, who cheered for Dunbar and then Alabama (I watched her cheer at a game) then married and is now coaching cheer at Ole Miss. She has a baby as well. She's tough as nails.

I'm sorry I cannot remember the name of the show and the network. I found it by accident.

Edited January 12, 2020 by pasdetrois

[Misslindsey]

This is mostly what was said at the end of the final episode but here is a Where are they now article about some of the more featured members of the squad.

I agree with everyone else about Gabi's parents. It felt kind of gross how aggressively they were monetizing her.  Something about her dad seemed off to me, but I cannot put my finger on it. Was it ever said what her parents did before Gabi started bringing in the money? Her dad was managing her. Her sister was selling bikinis with her. I agree that Gabi probably could not hack it at a four year college. Her mom said that Gabi was making more money now than many with degrees, but I wonder what will happen when Gabi ages out of all this cheer stuff for her followers and her parents. Even an influencer needs some kind of schtick or gimmick. 

My favorite was Jerry. I enjoyed him tremendously. I loved his attitude. 

7 hours ago, fountain said:

Okay the lady who taught them about Texas was offensive as hell, it is hard for me to imagine with her language and comments on camera that she wouldn’t immediately be terminated. She did not do the college any favours.

This. I loved the reaction shots of some of the squad members that were not from Texas. Most of them were all WTF.

[TrixieTrue]

9 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

This past year there was a new show that featured Dunbar's coach and her daughter, who cheered for Dunbar and then Alabama (I watched her cheer at a game) then married and is now coaching cheer at Ole Miss. She has a baby as well. She's tough as nails.

I'm sorry I cannot remember the name of the show and the network. I found it by accident.

I've seen one episode of this and I can't remember the name either. But it's also a good watch and shows how one person managed to make cheerleading into a career. 

[CoolMom]

11 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

This past year there was a new show that featured Dunbar's coach and her daughter, who cheered for Dunbar and then Alabama (I watched her cheer at a game) then married and is now coaching cheer at Ole Miss. She has a baby as well. She's tough as nails.

I'm sorry I cannot remember the name of the show and the network. I found it by accident.

The original was Cheerleader Nation, the new one was Cheerleader Generation.  Sadly, they never showed the last couple of episodes. 

[CoolMom]

This coach is amazing.  I am sad that Lexi backslid into her old ways because she took the fall for a "friend".  If they were real friends they wouldn't have let her ruin her future for them.  I've seen in my own life with people I love how hard it is to break away from that life especially when you feel you don't deserve it.

Gabi's parents creep me out and her family all seem to be using her to get ahead even her sister.  But her dad is just the worst, so many red flags going off in my head with him.  I hope someone opens her eyes before she is too old and too set in her ways to change the life they've basically taught her is normal. 

Morgan is the one whose parents divorced and when her dad remarried her stepmother didn't want her and her brother and banished them to a mobile home by themselves.  While I am glad they had shelter and food, how horrible for a parent to do such a thing to a child/teen.  I am glad the grandparents figured it out but they even said it took them too long to realize how bad things were.   I think she wants to stay close to Monica because she's a mother figure to her.  I hope Monica can help her move forward to become a self sufficient adult. Morgan is still young and may just need more time to grow. 

I loved Jerry's positive attitude and pray he does well at Louisville.  Good for him getting an academic scholarship after being turned down previously for their cheer squad.

 

[tobeannounced]

50 minutes ago, CoolMom said:

The original was Cheerleader Nation, the new one was Cheerleader Generation.  Sadly, they never showed the last couple of episodes. 

If you have AT&T, there's five episodes of Cheerleader Generation on their Watch TV app.

[Racj82]

20 hours ago, fountain said:

I loved the show as I really enjoy cheerleading. I do think Gabi’s parents were too much into selling her imagine.

I was so glad Jerry went on to a school where he got a scholarship and could get a full degree. It was great Jerry got to mat and competed as he was the best!

The really good looking one that stayed a 3rd year, I felt bad for her childhood life but she seemed to just be avoiding moving forward. I don’t even know what an associates degree is so I don’t even know if they are useful to get a career.

 

Associate Degrees are what you get when a graduate community college. I'm sure there are other ways to get them. But, they the precursor to a bachelor's degree. From your associate you only need two more years at a larger college to the bachelor's. I have it. Any secondary education and degree after high school. Being certified in a field even if you leave that field happens. More education on your resume always helps.

[Whimsy]

20 hours ago, meatball77 said:

I suspect that Gabi didn't have the academic chops for a four year school.  It seems that she was homeschooled badly. 

I also wonder if she would be able to continue to market herself like she does if she was at a big division 1 school.  I don't think that cheerleaders are division 1 athletes so she wouldn't lose her eligibility because of the things she did in high school but that doesn't mean that a school would allow her to market herself like she does now.

I think this show was more interesting because it was at a junior college instead of a division 1 squad filled with rich kids.  The squad seeming to be more male than female was also interesting.

As for the gal that stayed for a third year, I don't know what she would benefit academically from that.  An associates is the first two years of a four year degree.  There are a few careers where the associates is enough (childcare, some lower level nursing positions).  If she's not taking out any loans a third year in a place where she's learning to handle herself academically and keep her life together.

Those girls need to be wearing helmets when they are practicing.  Something that would give them a little protection when they are dropped on the head.

I think being on a team that wins all those championships positions her better to be marketable, but I just didn't like how it was portrayed that she just goes to all of these gyms to compete all over the country.  My daughter follows her on Twitter and they basically bring her on to be a ringer.  I'd be PISSED if my daughter went up against a team with her on it because it would seem highly unfair. There's no way she pays to be a part of all of these programs.  It didn't even seem like she was enrolled at Navarro anymore until they needed her. 

12 hours ago, Misslindsey said:

This is mostly what was said at the end of the final episode but here is a Where are they now article about some of the more featured members of the squad.

I agree with everyone else about Gabi's parents. It felt kind of gross how aggressively they were monetizing her.  Something about her dad seemed off to me, but I cannot put my finger on it. Was it ever said what her parents did before Gabi started bringing in the money? Her dad was managing her. Her sister was selling bikinis with her. I agree that Gabi probably could not hack it at a four year college. Her mom said that Gabi was making more money now than many with degrees, but I wonder what will happen when Gabi ages out of all this cheer stuff for her followers and her parents. Even an influencer needs some kind of schtick or gimmick. 

My favorite was Jerry. I enjoyed him tremendously. I loved his attitude. 

This. I loved the reaction shots of some of the squad members that were not from Texas. Most of them were all WTF.

 

4 hours ago, CoolMom said:

Gabi's parents creep me out and her family all seem to be using her to get ahead even her sister.  But her dad is just the worst, so many red flags going off in my head with him.  I hope someone opens her eyes before she is too old and too set in her ways to change the life they've basically taught her is normal. 

Morgan is the one whose parents divorced and when her dad remarried her stepmother didn't want her and her brother and banished them to a mobile home by themselves.  While I am glad they had shelter and food, how horrible for a parent to do such a thing to a child/teen.  I am glad the grandparents figured it out but they even said it took them too long to realize how bad things were.   I think she wants to stay close to Monica because she's a mother figure to her.  I hope Monica can help her move forward to become a self sufficient adult. Morgan is still young and may just need more time to grow. 

I loved Jerry's positive attitude and pray he does well at Louisville.  Good for him getting an academic scholarship after being turned down previously for their cheer squad.

 

Again, my daughter is/was highly involved in cheer.  We were actually talking about this and she really has a short shelf-life of being a "cheerlebrity".  I hope she does find something else in the cheer-world to transition into. 

I usually hate sob-stories, but Morgan and La'Darius both broke my heart.  I wanted to know how long Morgan lived in that trailer by herself!?!  I hope not long.  I hope her grandparents grabbed her sooner rather than later.  What a piece of shit that dad is to literally throw away his "old" children for his "new" children.  Lexi also broke my heart that she backslid.   

I was really interested in watching this because my daughter was a cheerleader for 8 years, 5 of which was at an all-star gym (or, club gym- which no-one says).  This is one of the best cheer shows I've seen as it didn't focus on the athlete's personal drama.  Yes, they did give us personal backstories, but we didn't hear about boyfriend/girlfriend drama or too-much of the personal relationships between them which I actually appreciated.  

I agree with the concerns about the injuries.  There were just so many!  My daughter was a back-spot and she had many girls fall right on top of her.  She has chronic back pain and other injuries that still bother her to this day because of cheer, and she's in a field where she's on her feet all day.  It's not all about the girls in the air.  There are injuries for all positions.  I, too, would like to see more protective gear, at least while they are learning the routine. 

As far as the question above about learning the routine at-speed.  I know my daughter would come home after choreography and mark the routine for me.  They just keep practicing faster and faster until they get it at full-speed.  

So much of this show brought me back to going to all of my daughter's cheer comps.  They were a combination of exhilarating and exhausting.  

[tobeannounced]

I really loved this show. I'll probably go back and watch it again, which I never do except for very few shows. I think the reason I loved it is because it was mainly about cheering. My problem with shows like Dance Moms and the like is that it's a terribly interesting topic -- these kids who are so focused and driven from such a young age -- but inevitably TPTB think all we want is drama, drama, drama.

It was so awesome to just be in their world and see what their lives are like on a daily basis. I felt like the personal stories were chosen because there were "sob story" elements that are more interesting, but it wasn't overdone and felt more inspirational and informative than exploitive.

[Pj3422]

19 hours ago, Misslindsey said:

This. I loved the reaction shots of some of the squad members that were not from Texas. Most of them were all WTF.

Heck, I’ve lived in Texas since I was 6, and I was all WTF.

Loved Jerry and his positivity. He looked like he was still losing weight by the end of the series. 

I have a hunch that the next stop for Gabi will be on at least one reality TV show. Give her a couple years and she’ll be part of The Bachelor franchise.

[Kerrey92]

I found this interesting.  I wish I’d had a Monica in my life when I was in early college!

I was so surprised by Lexi constantly vaping!  Not sure why but I expected that would NOT be tolerated.  
 

I swear they could do a similar show about HS musical theater which while not as injury prone is filled with kids giving their all to something bigger than themselves and meeting a school “family” that exists because you spend so much time together.  
 

[Pj3422]

10 hours ago, Kerrey92 said:

 

 

I swear they could do a similar show about HS musical theater which while not as injury prone is filled with kids giving their all to something bigger than themselves and meeting a school “family” that exists because you spend so much time together.  
 

I think that’s the premise of a show on the new AppleTV service. Kristen Bell is somehow involved in it. Sorry to be vague, but does that sound familiar to anyone?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

10 hours ago, Kerrey92 said:

I swear they could do a similar show about HS musical theater which while not as injury prone is filled with kids giving their all to something bigger than themselves and meeting a school “family” that exists because you spend so much time together.  

 

 

8 minutes ago, Pj3422 said:

I think that’s the premise of a show on the new AppleTV service. Kristen Bell is somehow involved in it. Sorry to be vague, but does that sound familiar to anyone?

It's called Encore! (the exclamation point is in the title - it's not just me being overly enthusiastic about this show). Each week they reunite the cast of a high school musical and they have five days to rehearse and put on a production of the same show they did in high school.

There's a wide range of time for how long ago they did these musicals (10-30 years) but many of the cast members talk about how these people were their family in high school, and you can see how much they pull together in just five days.

Some episodes are definitely better than others. The talent pool varies, as does the amount of drama. Some episodes have no drama at all, while others have some rehashing of old relationships which I don't mind since these are all real people and some of them had stuff happen between them.

It's a sweet show so I'd give it a chance if you have Disney+ and you're looking for something besides kiddie shows. There have been ten episodes so far and there are two more left for this season.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

First, A+ for the old school music choices! Catch Me I'm Falling by Pretty Poison and Point of No Return by Expose in the first five minutes? If I weren't already in, that would have been enough!

I was stifling laughter when one of the guys was explaining that the bond in cheerleading comes from someone not dropping which means you know that you can trust them and they won't let you get hurt because it reminded me of what someone once told me when describing BDSM. But the other part of me was kind of laughing because I was already thinking but you DO inevitably drop people. It's not for lack of skill either, but shit happens and people fall ALL the time. Two seconds later, they showed the pyramid collapsing and I thought that's exactly what I'm talking about! I mean, I totally get what he was saying. You literally trust these people with your life so how could you NOT bond and feel like a family after that?

The crazy thing is that all kinds of injuries still happen even with the newer guidelines that require mats and only allow formations to be 2 1/2 people high. In the not so olden days, collegiate cheer squads were allowed to stunt on the sidelines at football and basketball without any mats (aka right on bare cement or floor) and they were allowed to go 3 high.

And even with new safety requirements, look at what happens at practice on a much thicker mat than they get at games - in ONE practice, Ashlee hit her head against someone else's head while falling out of a pyramid and got a concussion, Jerry got a blood nose, Scherbs got kicked in the head and got a concussion, and then Allie got dropped and got a concussion.

I'm glad that they touched on weight because it would be absurd not to. There is always the expectation that female athletes will look a certain way and their weight is often obsessively monitored (not just in cheer). Honestly, it's not uncommon for a college aged flyer to weigh 96 pounds. As Sparky Polastri said, "We throw people in the air."

People often think of that cheerleaders just stand around being cute so I liked that they showed how much the cheerleaders work out (in addition to having practice all day).If your cheer squad just stands on the sidelines and does the occasional "go team!" cheer, then sure, they don't have to work out, but stunting takes so much strength and control from everyone involved and people don't always get to see how much work goes into it.

Awww, I love how much Jerry loves cheerleading. I was totally cracking up when he was watching cheer videos on his phone and La'Darius said that if there was a mini prep team he would know the entire routine too and then Jerry started talknig about a mini team that didn't do well at some competition and that he still had their score sheets.

OMG that Texas class. For the record, lady, Tex Mex is NOT better than Mexican food. When she said, "We like ourselves a lot around here," I was with the guy who whispered, "We know."

On 1/11/2020 at 12:44 PM, TrixieTrue said:

I wish we could have seen more about how they built up to the high speed that they were doing their stunts at. Most of the practice footage shown was at full speed and I think the overall process would have been interesting to watch. And I'd also like to know if they designed their own pyramids and the transitions and how they come up with the ideas. 

I think to make it onto a team like this, you have to have some previous basic stunting experience and that means the flyers especially already know how to do the basics like toss to hands, elevators, basket tosses, etc. so when they start putting the pyramids and stunts together they are building on those elements and working on the timing. A lot of the skills they do are just elevated versions of the basics.

But there are some skills that you just can't do at half speed because you need the momentum to make it happen. Those are the moments when you just have to trust your teammates will catch you if you don't get it the first time.

Like dance, there are always going to be creative people with vision who come up with interesting and new ideas for pyramids. Everyone else just copies what they do and then tries to tweak it slightly so it's not totally obvious. Now that transitions are really important for points, you don't necessarily have to go with the pyramid where every hit has all of the flyers up at the same time which does give teams more flexibility with the pyramids.

[Misslindsey]

21 hours ago, Whimsy said:

I think being on a team that wins all those championships positions her better to be marketable, but I just didn't like how it was portrayed that she just goes to all of these gyms to compete all over the country.  My daughter follows her on Twitter and they basically bring her on to be a ringer.  I'd be PISSED if my daughter went up against a team with her on it because it would seem highly unfair. There's no way she pays to be a part of all of these programs.  It didn't even seem like she was enrolled at Navarro anymore until they needed her. 

Ahh I see. It makes more sense now when the first episode we see Gabi with the team her mother was saying that Gabi had a day or something to learn a different teams routine. 

This is probably a stupid question, but were there only two teams in the category that Navarro competed in at Daytona? It looked like it was just Navarro and the other Texas team on the mat when they announced first and second place.

[TrixieTrue]

29 minutes ago, Misslindsey said:

 

This is probably a stupid question, but were there only two teams in the category that Navarro competed in at Daytona? It looked like it was just Navarro and the other Texas team on the mat when they announced first and second place.

Not a stupid question. I think they probably called up the top 5 or 6 teams and then announced the winners in reverse order. (5th place, 4th, 3rd, etc). This answer is a guess, but I remember watching the competitions back when they were on ESPN and I think they did something like that. 

[Whimsy]

 

21 hours ago, Misslindsey said:

Ahh I see. It makes more sense now when the first episode we see Gabi with the team her mother was saying that Gabi had a day or something to learn a different teams routine. 

This is probably a stupid question, but were there only two teams in the category that Navarro competed in at Daytona? It looked like it was just Navarro and the other Texas team on the mat when they announced first and second place.

Not a stupid question at all.  Sometimes my daughter went to comps where there were only 1 or 2 teams in their division.  They basically sleep-walked through their routines and still won.  But, sometimes the coaches/gym owners stack up in competitions like that to give their teams greater odds to make it to Summit or Worlds.  Summit is the BIG competition (equivalent to the NCA comp for Navarro) for the teams that are level 1-4 and Worlds is the big comp for level 5 and 6.  And yes, there are teams from other countries at Worlds.  🙂  My daughter was on a level 4.2 team (level 4 stunts but level 2 tumbling), so she only ever made it to Summit.

But, to answer your specific question, they do count backwards from whatever the last team (if there's 14 teams, they announce 14th place, then 13th, etc, etc) but according to the attached schedule, it looks like there were only two teams in Navarro's division.  Now I feel a bit bamboozled.  Not that they weren't good, and winning Grand Champs IS a big deal, but it's a bit less impressive to me, tbh.  Doesn't take away from my overall impression of this show, though.  I'm still grateful they had a show about cheer that wasn't about stupid drama. 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

16 hours ago, Misslindsey said:

This is probably a stupid question, but were there only two teams in the category that Navarro competed in at Daytona? It looked like it was just Navarro and the other Texas team on the mat when they announced first and second place.

 

16 hours ago, TrixieTrue said:

Not a stupid question. I think they probably called up the top 5 or 6 teams and then announced the winners in reverse order. (5th place, 4th, 3rd, etc). This answer is a guess, but I remember watching the competitions back when they were on ESPN and I think they did something like that. 

I haven’t watched nationals recently but that’s how I remember it too. They call up a certain number of teams to announce the winners (the number of teams they call up depends on how many teams made the finals in that division). Often at the preliminary competitions there won’t be as many teams because it’s local/regional so, for example, in a certain region there might not be 20 teams in the large coed junior college division 1 group. In cases like that they might only call the top 2 or 3 teams up to announce the winners. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Lovecat]

On 1/11/2020 at 1:18 PM, pasdetrois said:

Curious about what other viewers feel about Gabi Butler's parents' insane aggressive push to "monetize" her talent (her father's stated goal). Meanwhile Gabi is exhausted, and she also explains that she was home schooled and that her education was not a priority.

I watched all of his interviews with a very Joey Tribbiani-esque "smelling a fart" look on my face.  He was gross.  Get a job, dude, encourage your kid to get an actual education, and stop treating her like a commodity.  The mother wasn't much better.  They both gave me the ick.

On 1/11/2020 at 4:40 PM, meatball77 said:

Those girls need to be wearing helmets when they are practicing.  Something that would give them a little protection when they are dropped on the head.

And some sort of padding for their ribs--or maybe the guys' forearms should be padded.  It got to the point where I winced every time they showed a girl being caught.  It's got to be excruciating to be essentially whacked in the ribs over and over again.  I mean, I presume they teach the guys techniques to minimize the impact, but at the number of reps they do...?  Ouch.

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

And even with new safety requirements, look at what happens at practice on a much thicker mat than they get at games - in ONE practice, Ashlee hit her head against someone else's head while falling out of a pyramid and got a concussion, Jerry got a blood nose, Scherbs got kicked in the head and got a concussion, and then Allie got dropped and got a concussion.

I'm glad that they touched on weight because it would be absurd not to. There is always the expectation that female athletes will look a certain way and their weight is often obsessively monitored (not just in cheer). Honestly, it's not uncommon for a college aged flyer to weigh 96 pounds. As Sparky Polastri said, "We throw people in the air."

That practice was rough.  They were dropping like flies!

Heh.  "Fat people don't go as high."  I totally thought that when they were talking about weight.  That being said, none of those girls looked unhealthy; while slender, they were all very fit and muscular.  I hope Mama Bulldawg Monica watches them closely for signs of disordered eating.

I've never really liked all of the giant hair and sparkly bows that get piled on for competitions.  I know it's supposed to make them "pop" for the audience, judges, and teevee cameras, but I just find it distracting.  

[Conotocarious]

This was excellent. I binged it in a day. I don’t have any sort of cheerleading background so parts of it really weirded me out (the way those young girls in the cheer club were acting in episode one...using words like “cheerlebrity” unironically). But you ended up really caring for everyone. They did an amazing job with stories of the five kids. I was utterly hooked.

I tried to diplomatically assume that maybe Gabi’s parents got a bad edit or something but it’s hard to deny that they were the only ones (except that crazy history of Texas teacher but she was barely in it) who really came out earning a side eye. I could not stand the humblebragging the mom did from the second she opened her mouth. And the dad wasn’t any better.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

15 hours ago, Lovecat said:

I watched all of his interviews with a very Joey Tribbiani-esque "smelling a fart" look on my face.

Hahaha, this very specific description made me laugh. I totally pictured Joey watching this show and making that face. 

15 hours ago, Lovecat said:

none of those girls looked unhealthy; while slender, they were all very fit and muscular.

I’ve only watched the first episode so far but from what I saw, I agree. All of the girls looked really toned, muscular, and athletic, not waiflike. To be fair, you can still be strong and muscular and have an eating disorder (see: gymnastics) but hopefully these girls are being healthy.

15 hours ago, Lovecat said:

I've never really liked all of the giant hair and sparkly bows that get piled on for competitions.  I know it's supposed to make them "pop" for the audience, judges, and teevee cameras, but I just find it distracting.

I don’t like them for multiple reasons. On a practical level, big hair is more likely to get in the way while you’re tumbling or stunting and those bows are just one more thing that can go wrong, neither of which you want happening when you’re throwing girls through the air. On another level, I hate how they’re holdovers of the “cheerleaders are supposed to be cute and ultra-feminine” look.

Edited January 14, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[IndianPaintbrush]

Coach Monica reminds me a little of Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights. She's not as warm and fuzzy as Tami, but every one of those kids would take a bullet for Monica, and that says a lot.

Another thing that stood out was how different these kids are from the conservative Texas community that surrounds them. I'm glad the mayor supports them.

 

[dmmetler]

Another cheer mom here-my DD has cheered for 10 years and is out this season rehabbing a knee injury (and probably has long term damage and arthritis at age 15-cheer injuries are no joke). Navarro is unique because it is a junior college with open admissions, so while most top schools for cheer first require that you can get into the school, and then, if you do, you can get a spot on the team, Navarro can recruit just based on cheer-and because they can give an out of area tuition waiver even if they can give no other scholarship money, it makes it very affordable for kids who want to cheer (realistically one year of all Star cheer costs more than full out of state tuition, fees, room and board at Navarro). And it means that kids like Lexi have access-it is unlikely she would be able to get into a college other than a JC/CC. One of my DD's former coaches had a similar background, and like Lexi, had been scholarshipped at a cheer gym due to his tumbling talent. It often is easier for guys to get recognized this way, but socially, there is a big cost-a male cheerleader often finds himself stereotyped at school, and a scholarshipped cheerleader often can't do the outside of cheer social stuff or feel comfortable at the gym. 

 

Gabi Butler has had a lot of rumors swirling around her for years. Partially because of her jumping from team to team and gym to gym. She's one of the most visible (and, really,one of the first) "Cheerleberties" who have been able to monetize cheer via social media, being a brand ambassador, modeling for companies, etc. And I think her parents have tended to encourage controversy-or at least not discourage it.

I do wonder if she would be allowed as much freedom at a University of Kentucky or similar program as she has at Navarro. 

 

BTW-for those who don't know cheer, a National Champion is crowned in each division. So being 12 times national champions of the JC division isn't nearly as big of a deal as being 4x NCA grand champions, which requires the top score of the entire competition across divisions. In addition, cheer doesn't have just one Nationals-there is NCA, which is more like All Star and more flashy, which does Nationals in Daytona, and UCA, which is more like high school cheer,has a longer cheer and dance requirement, and does Nationals in Orlando. Schools do one or the other, and while it is somewhat geographic, it isn't totally (University of Kentucky is UCA, University of Louisville NCA). There are a lot of National Champions in Cheer. (And it is worse at the All Star level, where it is possible to win Nationals several times in a single season, and the debate over which Nationals is most prestigious is pretty heated). 

There also is a Team USA, which is selected from the top college cheerleaders and recent graduates, generally as stunt groups, and which competes at worlds.  Navarro's record of alumni on team USA is quite high. 

 

I was cringing during the Texas History/culture. As one of the guys said, cheer is very accepting-there are a lot of gay guys that end up finding their place at All Star gyms, and there have been quite a few pretty prominent cheerleaders who have transitioned and stayed on teams-since it is a co-ed sport, there is literally no problem with what uniform an athlete chooses to wear. I can imagine some of those out of state kids who were so thrilled to get into Navarro in order to cheer feeling like they were going to be attacked the minute they got off the mat.  

 

Home/Online schooling for cheer isn't terribly uncommon, especially for kids at the Worlds level, who often end up living with a host family so they can be on a specific team. It's also the case that all Star cheer is often a good way for a homeschooled kid to have a regular group of peers, and while kids in traditional schools often bridge to other activities in middle/high school, and have school cheer, homeschoolers tend to stick with it, so senior teams often have a lot of kids who are homeschooled. And it definitely makes it easier to travel for the sport, since most gyms do at least 5-6 competitions. 

 

Honestly, though, I haven't seen many cheer kids who weren't pretty academically focused as well. Except for Team USA, which tends to come from top college cheerleaders, the epitome of the sport is at the University level. And you don't get to cheer for University of Kentucky, Kansas U, UCF, Auburn, Old Miss, etc without being pretty competitive academically, too. I suspect Navarro is getting a slightly different group of kids 

[Loves2Dance]

On 1/12/2020 at 12:02 AM, Misslindsey said:

This is mostly what was said at the end of the final episode but here is a Where are they now article about some of the more featured members of the squad.

I agree with everyone else about Gabi's parents. It felt kind of gross how aggressively they were monetizing her.  Something about her dad seemed off to me, but I cannot put my finger on it. Was it ever said what her parents did before Gabi started bringing in the money? Her dad was managing her. Her sister was selling bikinis with her. I agree that Gabi probably could not hack it at a four year college. Her mom said that Gabi was making more money now than many with degrees, but I wonder what will happen when Gabi ages out of all this cheer stuff for her followers and her parents. Even an influencer needs some kind of schtick or gimmick. 

Gabi's parents are rich. Her father has several businesses and they live a very nice life in South Florida. 

[EarlGreyTea]

If I did not know this was a documentary, I'd have said it was a high caliber scripted drama. The producers could not have picked a better year, better narrative arc, or better group of students than this particular one.

The show had everything - richly drawn and scrappy underdog characters with interesting (and often tragic) backstories; the rivalry down the street; a compassionate coach who had something to prove after a recent loss; complete narrative arcs with certain team members proving themselves;  and a dramatic ending complete with last-minute changes (a la Matt Saracen filling in for Jason Street in the Friday Night Lights pilot).

I loved it. If it gets a season two (and frankly, it should, even though many of the most compelling characters are moving on), I bet they let them actually film the Daytona championships. That was weak sauce and I bet the president of the organization is kicking himself given what a hit this show is turning out to be.

I see no problem with Morgan staying another year. The poor girl clearly needs the stability of Monica before she feels she can strike out on her own. With all she's been through, I'm not surprised she wants to stay.

Edited January 14, 2020 by EarlGreyTea

[dmmetler]

Varsity has let other shows film at All Star Worlds/US Finals/NHSCC, so I don't understand why they didn't let Netflix film. They have gotten really bad about forcing takedowns of even private videos on YouTube, though. And while one excuse is the music rights, I am very sure whoever does the sound editing for Navarro made sure they had rights for the music for the Netflix show since they showed practIce. 

 

I hope they do a second season, but cheer shows haven't had a good history of getting the kind of support needed for a 2nd season. One thing in their favor-Cassidee Dunlap, from Cheer Perfection, is on Navarro's team this season, so there's a backstory there, which has a pretty good amount of filmed footage already. 

[Stiggs]

I really loved this. The kids were all just darling - and wow did the producer strike gold with these stories. Very compelling. I get mad when people bitch about “kids today,” because kids today are pretty awesome. 

My sister was a cheerleader back in the late  80s, and even then it deserved more sports credit than it got. Especially today, cheer is like football and gymnastics. It’s not a matter of if you’ll have a lifetime injury. You just will. Maybe more than one. 

My sister’s squad went to NCA camp once, and even the super serious girls on her squad who were planning on trying out at a big U (two did cheer at a D1 school) came back from the camp rolling their eyes. They made up a whole cheer called NCA GO AWAY, lol. I can’t remember exactly what all of their issues were but I know my Mom called it a scam and wanted to call the BBB, heh. 

I always loved watching cheer and dance on ESPN - I figured ESPN stopped airing them. I had no idea of the corporate cheer mafia. And yeah, good job, dude, your org looks like shit on Netflix. I would have loved to have seen clean video of those routines. (Even though I literally shouted when the kid hurt his ankle - OW.) 

Morgan broke my heart. Leaving her alone in a trailer? No wonder she wants to stay in jr college forever. I hope Monica can help Morgan find a cheer-related career path, because that poor girl’s only safe space is getting her ribs crushed. She has stability and she wants to keep it. I don’t blame her. Can’t believe her dad had the gall to show his face on TV. 

La’Darius brother’s tears while watching on that tiny little screen gave me tears.

Go Jerry! That kid is sweetness and light. 

Gabi’s parents are creepy. I cannot imagine my mother micromanaging my hair colorist, FFS. I really do hope Gabi can find a way to make cheer her life because she appears to know nothing else, which is just sad. Even her sister is cashing in with her bikinis. Gabi seems like a sweet young woman. I hope things turn out well for her and that she doesn’t wind up on season 15 of Vanderpump Rules or some shit. Or I hope her creepy dad is a great money manager and she’ll be set for life from all those Instagram posts that make her feel bad about herself. 

I hope Lexi works it all out one day. She’s smart but a bit lost. 

And I know I am old but OMG girls pull your hair back! All that flipping with all of that hair - I literally can’t walk my dogs with hair in my face like that. That would drive me nuts! 

Using Bad Girls Club as life inspiration had me LOL’ing. 

 

[Whimsy]

1 hour ago, dmmetler said:

Varsity has let other shows film at All Star Worlds/US Finals/NHSCC, so I don't understand why they didn't let Netflix film. They have gotten really bad about forcing takedowns of even private videos on YouTube, though. And while one excuse is the music rights, I am very sure whoever does the sound editing for Navarro made sure they had rights for the music for the Netflix show since they showed practIce. 

 

I hope they do a second season, but cheer shows haven't had a good history of getting the kind of support needed for a 2nd season. One thing in their favor-Cassidee Dunlap, from Cheer Perfection, is on Navarro's team this season, so there's a backstory there, which has a pretty good amount of filmed footage already. 

I don't understand how it could be music rights when just a couple of years ago (ok, maybe 4-5) they stopped allowing teams to use little snippets of real radio-played songs and made everyone pay thousands of dollars for "cheer mixes" that were individualized to the teams theme of the year.  Additionally, all of these songs are played on cheer streaming radio stations on places like Spotify.  But, maybe they are copyrighted.  I'm not sure.  Varsity has always been really weird about filming...

 

If they do another season, I actually would like to see a different team.  As @dmmetler said, they were only winning in their small division.  I'd like to see a team in a bigger division highlighted.  Keep the them and the overall tone of the series, but pick a different team. 

[EarlGreyTea]

23 minutes ago, Stiggs said:

La’Darius brother’s tears while watching on that tiny little screen gave me tears.

Agreed. That shot was straight out of a drama series. Again, the show was so well-made because of little scenes like that one. They sure made the best out of not being able to film the actual competition.

8 minutes ago, Whimsy said:

If they do another season, I actually would like to see a different team.  As @dmmetler said, they were only winning in their small division.  I'd like to see a team in a bigger division highlighted.  Keep the them and the overall tone of the series, but pick a different team. 

For me, they'd have to be VERY careful who they chose to focus on if they left Corsicana. This series worked for me only because of its scrappy underdog characters who came from rough, often impoverished backgrounds. I am not interested in watching a bigger division if they're going to highlight a more homogeneous, affluent group. Been there, seen that.

If they HAD to choose another school, the college from down the street who are their biggest rivals might work for me. I did like hearing what that coach had to say.

[dmmetler]

Music rights is the excuse Varsity uses for requiring the custom music, stripping out music from the few videos they release even when that music was custom and the rights clearly licensed, etc. Even if you subscribe to Varsity TV, there is no sound except on the Livestream. Watch later and it's silent, so not nearly as interesting to show grandma-or, really, for anything but coaches who want to point out mistakes to the team.  I honestly would love to see a comp where every team used the count music (the music Navarro used in practices-I swear every team in the country practices to the same recording) just to point out how repetitive cheer music has gotten. 

 

And I really don't understand the reasoning for, if not allowing Netflix's crew in, not allowing them the official Varsity TV recording. It just made Varsity look bad. 

 

I would be interested in them going to TVCC, since Trinity Valley is the other team in the JC division that usually does well score-wise against 4 year schools. In UCA, there are a few, but they are in the Open division, with the DIII 4 year schools. I suspect it has equally compelling stories. If you want to see 4 year college cheer, there is one season of Cheerleader U on Amazon Prime, following Kentucky (who is a regular winner in the 1A division, which is the most competitive at UCA-it's dominated by schools where football is a religion). 

 

Liked that they showed the pre-routine ritual/chant. Honestly, there is more of a show to watch in warm ups than on the mat, because each team has their own ritual and superstitions. 

The team going back after stopping is a two-edged sword. They do get to substitute, but the tumble bust that caused the injury is still in the routine, and putting a new person in can make the stunts more unstable and cost more score loss than if the rest of the group had just marked the stunt. And at that level, hitting zero (no deductions) is basically required to win-it is not odd for all of the top 5 scores to be within a point of each other. So you are going back out knowing that you already have a deduction. 

 

And as someone who has paid $500+ for a uniform, which is then babied like a Kentucky Derby winning racehorse,  seeing those uniforms in the surf made me cringe. I know it's a ritual, but I'll bet some person is spending a lot of time with E1000 replacing lost crystals after they are cleaned. Unless Varsity or Rebel comps their uniforms. 

 

It's fairly common for kids to take 3 years to finish an AS. I assume that Morgan will have to register for classes for something in order to cheer at Navarro. Or, honestly, I'm guessing Cheer Athletics has an International Level 6 or 7 that could use her. 

 

I think Jerry is going to be an awesome cheer coach someday (while also being an amazing something else). But I want to see him excel at Louisville first. 

[BoogieBurns]

15 minutes ago, dmmetler said:

I think Jerry is going to be an awesome cheer coach someday (while also being an amazing something else). But I want to see him excel at Louisville first.

Looks like Jerry has returned to Navarro for his third year. Just caught Gabi mention it on instagram.

[Conotocarious]

44 minutes ago, BoogieBurns said:

Looks like Jerry has returned to Navarro for his third year. Just caught Gabi mention it on instagram.

Really? I wonder if he didn’t like Louisville for some reason?

They need a season two. 

[EarlGreyTea]

46 minutes ago, BoogieBurns said:

Looks like Jerry has returned to Navarro for his third year. Just caught Gabi mention it on instagram.

That's interesting. Maybe he deferred? Perhaps they knew a season two was greenlit and Jerry wanted to stay for that? (I have no idea if there will be a season two) I sure hope he wasn't unhappy at all. I want the best for that kid!

[EarlGreyTea]

3 hours ago, Stiggs said:

Gabi’s parents are creepy. I cannot imagine my mother micromanaging my hair colorist, FFS. I really do hope Gabi can find a way to make cheer her life because she appears to know nothing else, which is just sad. Even her sister is cashing in with her bikinis. Gabi seems like a sweet young woman. I hope things turn out well for her and that she doesn’t wind up on season 15 of Vanderpump Rules or some shit. Or I hope her creepy dad is a great money manager and she’ll be set for life from all those Instagram posts that make her feel bad about herself.

Yeah. I've not seen it mentioned much, but her sister was a real piece of work too. It seems like cashing in on Gabi is the family business. I'm sure they're under pressure to move those bikinis, but good Lord. Get some perspective and empathy for the girl. I don't care what Gabi may say in statements defending them - and sure, the show was only a sample size of her interactions with her family - but some things don't need a lot of footage to be clear. Sometimes people show themselves very quickly.

The only time I agreed with anything her parents said was when they talked about what a chokehold Varsity had on the sport.

[Pj3422]

11 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

11 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Honestly, it's not uncommon for a college aged flyer to weigh 96 pounds. As Sparky Polastri said, "We throw people in the air”

How much do I love that you quoted Sparky Polastri? 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Gabi really needs to get away from her parents and the crap that they tell her. When she said that everyone used to think that unless you were born flexible, there was no way you could become flexible. Um, no. This myth that your parents fed you is not a thing. Anyone who has ever taken ballet, gymnastics, yoga, etc. knows that you can become flexible if you stretch. It's a process. Yes, there are people who are naturally flexible but not every gymnast or ballerina is born being able to slide into the splits on the first day. Most people have to work at it. There are professional dancers who have had to fight for every centimeter of flexibility. That's common knowledge. There was never a myth that you had to be born flexible.

When Allie said this was her fifth concussion, I was like GURL, CTE is real.

One thing I really liked seeing was the team being supportive of each other, even though they know they're competing against each other for spots for Daytona. Hearing people root for you on the sidelines seems like a small thing but it can help, especially when you're feeling frustrated like Morgan was.

I also liked that the coaches were encouraging her, from Monica taking her aside to tell her that she was rooting for her but that she needs to point her toes and Kapena giving her a pep talk and then telling her to go have a little cry in private in the bathroom.

The blueprint for coaches in general is screaming and tough love (see: Last Chance U) but the rare female coaches (like Miss Val, UCLA's longtime gymnastics coach who just retired) show that you can produce successful athletes without being an asshole to these kids. You can be tough and you can demand a lot physically and emotionally and you can still be kind and supportive and not yell and not be an asshole. Instead of screaming, "That sucks! That was terrible!" (again, see: Last Chance U), Monica says things like, "It's better. It's not where we want it to be yet, but it's better." And that is exactly why I'd rather see another season at Navarro than switch to Tri Valley. I don't need to watch that guy tell one of his cheerleaders to go tumble because they're getting fat.

Poor Morgan. Her dad sounds like a real piece of work. Leaving your two kids to live in a trailer so that your new family wouldn't be sullied with reminders of your first marriage is a shitty thing to do. These are human children who you are responsible for. Just because you technically put a roof over their heads doesn't mean you've done your duty. When Morgan said she felt alone, she wasn't good enough, and like she wasn't important to anyone, I was like well, no wonder since she WAS alone and her dad told her that she wasn't good enough or important enough to live inside the house with him and her three half-siblings. The fact that she sees Monica remembering her name as important tells you a lot about how she's been treated by her family.

In contrast, Gabi's mom bitching about why her daughter wasn't given a walk in closet while she's at a junior college in Corsicana made me roll my eyes. Bitch, if you want to buy a house in Texas and have it custom made so that your daughter can have a walk in closet, be my guest. But you should know that 99% of student housing does not have walk in closets. Hell, most junior college don't even have housing. And just a tip for all those parents who coddle their kids: teach them how to do laundry before they move out of the house. Giving them a list of laundry instructions about how to use detergent and stain remover when they're in the midst of moving into a college dorm? No. You should have taught your kid this very basic life skill YEARS ago, or at the very least months ago so that they could practice at home a few times. But why would I expect that from parents who are unpacking and organizing their adult daughter's entire apartment.

When Gabi's dad said that he doesn't like to be overly involved in Gabi's life or micromanage, I just laughed and laughed and then I laughed some more.

Another note to Gabi's parents: asking if she wants to go to Anaheim is not so urgent that you need to go into the bathroom while your daughter is in the shower to get an answer. I'm pretty sure that can wait the 5-10 minutes it will take her to finish her shower.

On a shallow note, I loved that Dahlston the choreographer had the notes for each section handwritten in cursive. I totally cracked up when he bluntly said that the not so hot team members need to be hidden in the formations. It's funny because it's true!

After seeing Lexi tumble, I can see why she was offered spots at gyms without having to pay fees. The girl did a standing full! I felt bad when she said that she gets left out by the other girls. You'd think that since she's a tumbler, they would welcome her since they know she's not competing with them for a position as a flyer.

Jerry is a literal cheerleader. The way he encourages EVERYONE with his mat talk is so adorable. He is a true team player regardless of whether or not he's actually on the mat. Shannon described it perfectly when she said he's the heart of every team he's on. He is really lucky to have so many people who love and support him. I love that his mom didn't even really know what all star cheer was but she found a gym for him and did everything she could to keep him in it. What a sweet kid. I'm really glad he still has cheer after everything he's been through. He is such a ray of sunshine.

Poor Allie. Kapena was 100% right - you should NOT be dropping anyone on a double down. They should have caught her.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

One thing I'm glad they mentioned in the first episode is that nationals with Navarro is end game for most of these cheerleaders. There is the possibility of transferring to a four year university and cheering two more years, but there's probably a reason they weren't cheering at a 4 year in the first place so unless that reason has changed, whatever it may be, Navarro is the end of the road for their competitive cheerleading careers.

It's not like Last Chance U where they're trying to transfer to a 4 year so that they can go pro in the NFL afterward. There's no equivalent for cheer at this level after college (as several of them mentioned, being a pro cheerleader like the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is NOT the same). Sure, you can coach or teach cheer so that you're still involved with it, but you aren't personally going to be stunting and competing at this level anymore. On the one hand, it shows how much they love what they're doing because they KNOW this is not going to take them to the equivalent of being an NFL quarterback with a multimillion dollar contract. On the other hand, it makes me sad so see them push their bodies so hard knowing that all that hard work means nothing after nationals and there's nowhere to take this skill set professionally. But maybe that's a good thing since your body can only take so much of this.

[Whimsy]

32 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

The blueprint for coaches in general is screaming and tough love (see: Last Chance U) but the rare female coaches (like Miss Val, UCLA's longtime gymnastics coach who just retired) show that you can produce successful athletes without being an asshole to these kids. You can be tough and you can demand a lot physically and emotionally and you can still be kind and supportive and not yell and not be an asshole. Instead of screaming, "That sucks! That was terrible!" (again, see: Last Chance U), Monica says things like, "It's better. It's not where we want it to be yet, but it's better." And that is exactly why I'd rather see another season at Navarro than switch to Tri Valley. I don't need to watch that guy tell one of his cheerleaders to go tumble because they're getting fat.

My daughter's coaches were more like Monica.  They did get really mad occasionally, but mostly they were like her.  The first gym she was at were more into the screaming at kids- and some of these kids were really little!  They would call the "older" (and by older, I still mean 10-11) year olds names and stuff.  I heard it all because I worked in the office to help pay for her tuition.  I was so glad when she chose to leave and we realized that not all coaches scream at you all the time!

 

35 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

One thing I really liked seeing was the team being supportive of each other, even though they know they're competing against each other for spots for Daytona. Hearing people root for you on the sidelines seems like a small thing but it can help, especially when you're feeling frustrated like Morgan was.

Mat talk is real and strong!  My daughter would come back from practice sometimes saying she was losing her voice for screaming so hard for the other teams if they were having little "show cases" at the gym.  At comps, forget it- she was hoarse by the end of day one lol. 

 

36 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

In contrast, Gabi's mom bitching about why her daughter wasn't given a walk in closet while she's at a junior college in Corsicana made me roll my eyes. Bitch, if you want to buy a house in Texas and have it custom made so that your daughter can have a walk in closet, be my guest. But you should know that 99% of student housing does not have walk in closets. Hell, most junior college don't even have housing. And just a tip for all those parents who coddle their kids: teach them how to do laundry before they move out of the house. Giving them a list of laundry instructions about how to use detergent and stain remover when they're in the midst of moving into a college dorm? No. You should have taught your kid this very basic life skill YEARS ago, or at the very least months ago so that they could practice at home a few times. But why would I expect that from parents who are unpacking and organizing their adult daughter's entire apartment.

All of this.  Poor Morgan.  I hope she finds support and encouragement after she leaves Navarro.  Things could go real bad for her if she doesn't get it and that breaks my heart to think about. 

 

37 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Jerry is a literal cheerleader. The way he encourages EVERYONE with his mat talk is so adorable. He is a true team player regardless of whether or not he's actually on the mat. Shannon described it perfectly when she said he's the heart of every team he's on. He is really lucky to have so many people who love and support him. I love that his mom didn't even really know what all star cheer was but she found a gym for him and did everything she could to keep him in it. What a sweet kid. I'm really glad he still has cheer after everything he's been through. He is such a ray of sunshine.

If for nothing else, I am so glad I saw this show to learn that Jerry's in the world.  He is a real-life, walking, talking ray of sunshine.  He gives me some renewed faith in humanity. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Monica/Annette was definitely punishing TT for not listening to her after he hurt his back with the all stars over the weekend. But what concerned me was (1) that he would hurt himself or (2) that he would hurt his flyer.

I'm glad that Monica is so proactive about who is on the mat. I could see that La'Darius wasn't trying to keep Scherbs up in her stunt and I felt bad for her that she kept coming down because of his lack of effort. He is a great tumbler and he CAN be a good stunter when he puts in the effort but it's not fair to a flyer to keep coming down because of her base. It's not on the flyer to put in all the effort. Stunting is a partnership and the person holding her up has to work to keep her up there. La'Darius just wasn't putting in any effort at all. He was acting like he was a flat tabletop that she should be able to balance on by herself. That girl's safety is in your hands so if you can't be bothered, then get out. And Monica saw this in him before the initially chose the top 20. It's disappointing to see that she was right.

I loved that Monica took La'Darius out and put Jerry in. Maybe having to fight for his position will light a fire under La'Darius' ass and get him to start putting in some effort. And I love how everyone was rooting for Jerry and high fiving him afterward. It was so sweet to see Morgan, Gabi, and one of the guys tell him that they were proud of him.

I really got annoyed when his apology to Scherbs included him telling her to stop crying. You don't get to tell her how to feel or how to react to whatever it is you said or did.

I was rolling my eyes later in the episode when La'Darius had the nerve to passive aggressively complain about other people not going 100% during practice. This, coming from the guy who was dropping Scherbs time after time because he couldn't be bothered?

OMG Gabi's parents continue to be the worst. So much for their claim that they're not overly involved micromanagers. When her mom started talking a mile a minute about how she was worried because they hadn't heard from her or seen her on snapchat so she thought maybe she had gotten into an accident. Slow your roll and get a life. Your paranoia is not Gabi's problem. And when Gabi tried to set a boundary by saying she was studying and asked if she could call them back later, her mom totally ignored what she said and started going on and on about Gabi's Arbonne order. Good lord, what a pain in the ass.

I laughed my ass off when Gabi's mom tried to claim that Gabi's been in so many magazines that she can't keep up with them all. Bitch, please, you know you bought 20 copies of everything she's ever been in. And then as if to prove my point, she whipped out a bunch of magazines, turned to specific pages, and said, "That's Gabi." And while it's great that Gabi is making money already, I hated how dismissive her mom was about how Gabi is making more money than people who have master's degrees. Don't try to use that as justification for her shitty homeschooling and the fact that you don't really want her to go to college. It's sad to see how Gabi is responsible for her family's stupid bikini business and their self worth. Imagine going home to visit your family and just getting hounded/interrogated/guilt tripped about doing promotions on Instagram, being lectured about marketing opportunities, getting yelled at by your parents about making a fucking video.

When her dad said that managing her career takes a lot of time but it's been tremendously rewarding, I could practically see the dollar bill signs in his eyes. That poor girl. The amount of pressure that her mom, dad, and sister put on her must be unbearable.

OMG when Scherbs fell, I was like why are they talking about calling the trainer? Get her to the ER and get an x-ray right now!

[SHD]

I don't really understand the judging at the end. Their big error wasn't caused by something out of their control. Someone on the team made a huge mistake that derailed everything. Wouldn't that have knocked them down enough points to put them lower in the rankings, no matter how good the rest of the routine was? I don't understand the second chance, either. For instance, in gymnastics (which is the closest comparison I can make), if an athlete stumbles or falls off equipment, they don't say "Just start where you left off - we're going to ignore the mistake." Unless maybe the second place team made a lot of bad errors we didn't see?

Lexi looks like she's on her way to a role on "Euphoria". Disappointing to see the direction she seems to be headed.

I know they highlighted that keeping up grades was essential to being on the team but I couldn't figure out when those kids would have time to seriously study, work on papers, etc. I wonder if they got a "pass" in some classes because teachers don't want to be the ones weakening the cheer team, which seems to be the pride of the school.

[Loves2Dance]

19 hours ago, Whimsy said:

I don't understand how it could be music rights when just a couple of years ago (ok, maybe 4-5) they stopped allowing teams to use little snippets of real radio-played songs and made everyone pay thousands of dollars for "cheer mixes" that were individualized to the teams theme of the year.  Additionally, all of these songs are played on cheer streaming radio stations on places like Spotify.  But, maybe they are copyrighted.  I'm not sure.  Varsity has always been really weird about filming...

 

If they do another season, I actually would like to see a different team.  As @dmmetler said, they were only winning in their small division.  I'd like to see a team in a bigger division highlighted.  Keep the them and the overall tone of the series, but pick a different team. 

There is a web series that focused on the University of Louisville. It's night and day different. 

[Loves2Dance]

16 minutes ago, SHD said:

I don't really understand the judging at the end. Their big error wasn't caused by something out of their control. Someone on the team made a huge mistake that derailed everything. Wouldn't that have knocked them down enough points to put them lower in the rankings, no matter how good the rest of the routine was? I don't understand the second chance, either. For instance, in gymnastics (which is the closest comparison I can make), if an athlete stumbles or falls off equipment, they don't say "Just start where you left off - we're going to ignore the mistake." Unless maybe the second place team made a lot of bad errors we didn't see?

If an athlete gets injured, the routine stops. They were deducted for his error (falling with his tumbling) but anything after the music stopped wasn't scored. When they go a second time, scoring doesn't start again until the stopped part has started. 

Unlike gymnastics, cheerleading is a team sport. If an individual athlete falls, that is on them. In cheerleading, if an individual athlete causes a stunt to fall the routine keeps going---this only happened because there was an injury that prevented the rest of the performance to go on. If he had fallen out of his tumbling, got up and finished the routine---it wouldn't have been to go back to warm-ups with an alternate for 30 minutes and try again. 

[Misslindsey]

This where are they now article has a bit more to it. It looks like Morgan is at Texas Tech now. It says that Jerry is cheering at Louisville while cheering for Navarro and Wildcats on the side. 

[Loves2Dance]

1 hour ago, Misslindsey said:

This where are they now article has a bit more to it. It looks like Morgan is at Texas Tech now. It says that Jerry is cheering at Louisville while cheering for Navarro and Wildcats on the side. 

"her [Gabi's] parents have gone full Kris Jenner in making her into an empire"

They only wish they could do that...bwahahahahaha!