developed from mere boosterism into a sport gradually; as one team would develop pyramids, baskets, throws, and tumbles—combining skills from cheerleading, circus arts, and dancing—other teams would emulate and build on those tricks. Unlike most college sports, cheerleading has no professional league after college, so the National Cheerleading Championship held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida is the highest-level event where cheerleaders can compete. As of 2020, competitive cheerleading is a billion dollar industry. Director Greg Whiteley came across competitive cheerleading while filming for his football television seriesLast Chance U. He was struck by the cheerleaders' athleticism and highly competitive drive. Navarro College, a “9,000-student community college in Corsicana, Texas, about fifty miles south of Dallas,” has a cheer team coached by Monica Aldama who graduated from Corsicana High School, earned a degree in Finance at the University of Texas at Austin, then a Master of Business Administration at the University of Texas at Tyler. She was a cheerleader in college. Because of her devotion to her extended Texan family, and her and her husband's desire to raise their children near their families, she accepted the position of cheerleading coach at Navarro College. Starting in 2000, she build the programfrom the ground up, making it into the best in the nation.
Reception
As of January 2020, Cheer has a “100 percent rating from critics, and 93 percent from audience members on Rotten Tomatoes”. The Washington Post’s Hank Stuever wrote, "Cheer quickly and effortlessly becomes all-consuming for the viewer. Whiteley superbly structures the story through six episodes to heighten the anxiety as the competition nears." Vulture’s Jen Chaney stated, “while it depicts plenty of conflicts and disagreements between the cheerleaders at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, it’s an ultimately more uplifting show that uses cheer as a prism through which to explore overcoming all kinds of obstacles.” In January 2020, the Navarro cheer team and coach Monica appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and performed a full routine; Ellen DeGeneres presented them with $20,000 toward their fundraising goal. The January 25, 2020 episode of Saturday Night Live had a sketch spoofing Cheer with guest hostAdam Driver as one of the coaches apparently unconcerned as team members want to make the mat—the twenty chosen for the finals—so bad they want to cheer despite near-catastrophic injuries. In late January 2020, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert featured a spoof commercial about mat talk, the boisterous positivity sideline cheers that teammates do for the performing members—for which Jerry Harris was singled-out during the series as excelling in—for their performance. The conceit was a new booster Mat Talk for Regular People program whereby the Navarro Cheer Team members would praise everyday people for mundane activities, and featured La'Darius Marshall, Harris, and Gabi Butler cheering people on, with coach Monica Aldama available for a Booster Shot.
