By: Juliet Vargas
The new season of Cheer is not what I was expecting. The docuseries Cheer first hit Netflix January 8, 2020. Cheer was documented in Corsicana, Texas where head coach Monica Aldama tries to make her cheerleaders succeed every year at winning the National Cheer Association (NCA) championship at Daytona Beach, Florida.
The first season of Cheer was solely about Navarro’s cheerleaders and the usual problems that arise from practicing cheering at Daytona. While also going deep into the lives of cheerleaders Lexi Brumback, Jerry Harris, Gabi Butler, Morgan Simianer, and La’Darius Marshall.
This new season was shocking and almost completely different from the first. Not only talking about Navarro’s cheer squad but also their rivals Trinity Valley, Jerry Harris’s arrest, the effects of the pandemic on both cheer squads, and La’Darius’ blow up.
It also highlighted new cheerleaders of Navarro like Maddy Brum, Gillian Rupert, Cassadee Dunlap, Payton Sykes, and Brooke Morosca. As well as Trinity Valley cheerleaders Jada Wooten, Jeron Hazelwood, DeVonte “Dee” Joseph, Angel Rice, Jaden “Jaymo” Rice, and Benjamin “Benji” Chester.
The second season starts soon after Navarro’s win at the 2019 NCA championship. Where it showcases both Navarro and Trinity Valley practicing for NCA’s 2020 competition. Since the docuseries Cheer came out soon after their 2019 competition Navarro’s cheerleaders mentioned earlier in season one has been dealing with pop culture fame and constant opportunities seeking to feature them on shows and advertisements.
While Navarro is balancing fame and practice, Trinity Valley is pushing their limits, training to win back the NCA championship title. Watching Trinity Valley practicing hard really makes the viewer hopeful that they win this year’s competition.
The show digs deep into the struggles of both cheer squads’ cheerleaders, showing the struggles of being on mat, personal life, and the addition of the pandemic.
The show talked about Jada’s mental blocks on being able to complete perfect stunts and Jeron being the only cheerleader on mat for three years, having to participate in all parts, and not being able to have a bad day because he has to set an example for the rookies and lead them with positivity.
Jeron is one of my favorites from this season, even though he didn’t receive much screen time since they weren’t able to compete in the 2020 NCA competition he couldn’t compete anymore because it was his last year there. He seems like such a nice guy who doesn’t want to let down the team for not being 100% and when he wasn’t able to win a championship ring his last year because of the pandemic that just broke my heart. Both teams had to quarantine like the rest of humanity in 2020 and they weren’t able to compete or cheer.
Half a year later, both teams got right back to practicing for Daytona 2021. That’s when all hell broke loose for Navarro. Monica decided to compete in Dancing With The Stars leaving her team with a new assistant head coach to coach the team while she’s gone.
Soon after Jerry was arrested for federal child pornography sex charges. This was a complete shock and difficult to process. Jerry has been known to be such a kind high spirited teammate and favorite cheerleader from season one. The show interviewed the victims who pressed charges and went onto talking about the issues that come with being a young cheerleader and the high rate of being a victim to sexual misconduct and not being able to speak about it because of the backlash the victims get at times.
The team couldn’t process nor feel they could accept what had happened, but they had to continue practicing. La’Darius then blew up on Monica because he felt Monica was not listening to him nor trusted his judgment. He then left the team and talked about how toxic cheerleading life was. Even though I love La’Darius, his trash talking about the team and coach was rude and unnecessary; Monica doesn’t have to give up her life and dream about being on Dancing With the Stars because of Navarro.
When both teams reached Daytona, there was this anxious feeling of who was going to win, Navarro or Trinity Valley. Daytona is two days and they perform twice. The first performance is 25% of their final score and their second is 75%.
Navarro went first on the first day and performed great but when Trinity Valley performed they made two mistakes and this brought the team’s hopes down. On the second day Trinity Valley performed first and when they successfully hit their routine that brought so much joy to the team and myself included. Then when Navarro performed they had made a mistake and knew in the back of their minds this might cost them the competition. Waiting for the results was tense for the cheerleaders and the viewer. Then they announced that Trinity valley had won by 0.15 points.
Right after the competition, Monica and La’Darius made up and it brought tears to my eyes because they weren’t able to be there for each other when they needed it most and knowing that their relationship was like mother and son was saddening.
Two months later, a new cheer season has begun and cheerleaders decide if they want to come back to another year of hard work and drama.
The second season of Cheer is difficult to describe in words. It was illuminating and brought joy, tears, and disappointment. Overall, I feel like Trinity Valley deserved to win at Daytona because of the hard work they put in and doubt they got from others.
