Netflix docuseries profiles cheerleading at Texas college
Competitive sport a serious business for small U.S. town
DALLAS— Two minutes, 15 seconds.
College football players need 60 minutes. College basketball players need 40. In college cheerleading, only a two minute, 15-second routine decides which school will be crowned national champion. Sounds intense, huh? Yeah ... you don’t know the half of it.
At Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, cheerleading is a serious business. A hardcore, intense, borderline-“psychotic” business.
The school’s cheerleaders are the subject of a new Netflix docuseries that’s sure to get your blood pumping, fittingly titled “Cheer.”
The docuseries chronicles the journey of the Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team as they prepare to win their next national title in Daytona Beach, Fla. Yes — their next national title. Navarro really is a cheerleading powerhouse, respected on a grand stage despite the school’s smaller size. These collegiate cheerleaders fight well above their weight class, often topping larger, more prominent universities.
Navarro cheer has captured 14 NCA National Championships in the junior college division since 2000. The team has also won “Grand National” status five times during that span, awarded to the team with the highest overall score at competitions, respectively.
Less chanting, more flipping appears to be the model for success. This isn’t traditional cheerleading. Navarro’s displays of high-risk acrobatics and tumbling combine the best of professional gymnastics, Broadway theatre and Cirque du Soleil — all with a peppy, charming, sideline flair.
While competition might be a focus, the young adults who make up the squad are the docuseries’ main subject.
Cheerleading at Navarro is very much a pilgrimage for many.
The docuseries’ trailer makes it clear that some team members come from “broken homes or troubled pasts,” including kids who may fear being judged for their differences. Young adults who, if not for cheerleading, wouldn’t have a support system.
The docuseries is directed by Greg Whiteley, who was also behind the popular Netflix series “Last Chance U” — which follows struggling junior college football players hoping to play at the Division I level.
“(‘Cheer’) is a raw look into the lives of college students who have come together to fight for a championship,” cheer team coach Monica Aldama said in a Facebook last week.
“... It is honest, emotional, funny and gut-wrenching. It does not sugar coat anything so bring your tissues.”