User Reviews

When I started watching this show I had absolutely no interest in cheerleading whatsoever but someone I trusted had suggested that I give it a go.

In 6 short hours I went from disinterested to a total nervous wreck given to fits of ugly crying and loving everything that years of American cinema had taught me to despise.

What happened to Sherbs' basket? Will Jerry ever make mat? When will Morgan point her toes on a full out? Can anyone save Gabi from her own parents?

Can Navarro triumph at Daytona?

Maybe it's slightly overlong but investment in the first three episodes truly pays off in the last three....

....and that last episode.......

......I seem to have something in my eye again ......

I am not from the US, and cheerleading is not a thing here. I obviously knew it was a thing because of movies and tv-shows and these did really mostly present it as like "not hard" or its only "dumb blonde girls" doing it. Personally I saw that it probably takes a huge amount of practice and effort to do it before I watched this, but I really didn't know anything about how competitive it is for so many young athletes. It's insane how many injuries occur almost every other day and how hard they have to work to get everything done right. Nothing but huge respect to all the people involved here.

As for the documentary itsself, I think it really does its job well. The bigger picture is the training for the Daytona competition, but they also take their time to focus on some of the athletes involved and I really appreciated that. All in all a great documentary that is also really captivating because you really start rooting for these people to succeed.

Can only recommend this for people who are interested in sports and how athletes practice, not only for cheerleading but for other types of sports too.

It's in the title, I have never taken the time to review any movie/series before but for some reason cheer has moved me to do this, it is so worth a watch, watching the team grow from the start to the championships is an emotional journey and really makes you appreciate what these athletes go through. Only criticism is sometimes it is slightly over emotional at time's, but once you're past this it's a really good watch!

Before I rip into the utter disregard for safety in this cheer program, I'll point out the positive things. The kids work their butts off and support one another. The series showcases the personal struggles in the lives of some of the cheerleaders, but none of these struggles stem from any of the stereotypical cheerleader drama that you see in movies. These are kids trying to do their very best in life and that's admirable. I'll also positively note that the head coach Monica instills in the kids a work ethic. It's also great that she is willing to accept kids with rougher backgrounds into the program and be a role model to them in certain ways.

But oh man.... It's hard to watch this show at times due to the utter disregard for these kids' safety. I really shouldn't have to qualify my review because any viewer with a brain can see this, but I'm sure some people will assume that I don't understand competitive cheerleading (since no, I wasn't a cheerleader), but I will note that I competed in Division I college athletics. I've been around all kinds of high level sports my ENTIRE life (playing, coaching, and watching). I've overcome injuries that required surgeries all in the name of the sports I've loved. And yes, this kind of cheerleading is most definitely a sport. It is intense and dangerous acrobatics aimed at winning a national championship by having the most difficult and well-executed routine.

The routines are dangerous. That in and of itself is a concern and you could debate that certain stunts should no longer be allowed, such as basket tosses where a cheerleader is thrown incredibly high into the air, executing multiple flips and twists, only to be caught in the arms of several teammates. Cheerleaders sometimes die doing those kinds of stunts. That said, I feel like that's a different kind of debate altogether, because as it is, competitive cheerleading currently allows that kind of thing. So going into this TV series, you kind of have to accept that premise since it's currently part of the sport and to win a National Title, the team would have to include those stunts. And the kids in this series are seriously good athletes, performing seriously complex sports.

Therefore, I actually think the thing that is most CRAZY about this show (and admittedly entertaining in a train wreck way) is how these kids worship their head coach Monica and do anything she says. If she says to do the routine full-out or throw extra tumbling runs even if they are way too winded to perform these things safely, they do it, no questions asked. If they're clearly in physical pain, the coaching staff tells them it's mental and to shake it off, so they do. This is a dangerous formula. It's the formula of cults. It wouldn't be so bad if Monica and her assistant coach made better decisions, but since Monica is not the kind of coach you should actually trust, she constantly puts her kids in danger and MANY of them get hurt as a result. Granted, you see this too often in many sports (football comes to mind), but I'm not reviewing a docu-series about a dangerous football coaching team, but I wouldn't hesitate to do so if I watched it.

Without giving away any major spoilers, I'll give a few examples. When one of the athletes has a chronic rib cage injury that leaves her crumpled on the floor, they do NOT have it checked by a doctor. Just the college trainer. The assistant coach goes as far as to admit in his interview that they don't know exactly what is wrong with her, but they call it "ribiosis." If you Google "ribiosis" it does not even return any legitimate medical hits on the first 2 pages. Instead, it comes up under cheerleading pages (incl. discussions about this show). Why? Probably because it's code word for "the cheerleader has cracked ribs but we aren't going to do an X-ray on her because we need her to compete." Good Lord.

Additionally, a common training method that Monica employs is to have them do their routine "full-out" (which means all of the stunts, basket tosses, tumbling, and pyramid) while they extremely winded. This is meant to be part of their conditioning! Hello! There are some sports you can do while extremely winded - such as soccer or basketball or running. But other things that can have devastating outcomes if performed without precise form should NOT be done while extremely winded - such as max weight lifting, gymnastics, and cheerleading stunts. If these things can't be done with correct form or with the required strength, it is a recipe for disaster. This is HOW people get hurt (and, yes, this happens in the show - while winded, the cheerleaders make serious mistakes and injuries happen). These cheerleaders should be conditioned with safe methods instead of being forced to throw dangerous stunts. Anyone who doesn't understand this and defends Monica for doing this (calling her "tough") has either never played high-level sports or they DID but they only had bad coaches. Because I was so lucky to have some great coaches at both the high school and college level who knew what they were doing, who knew how to push us without putting us in danger.

When another girl is struggling with a rib injury (sensing a pattern?), the trainer tells her that she needs to go to the ER after practice. When the girl tells Monica this, Monica's response is an irritated, "Cute." Cute? Who responds like that upon hearing that an athlete (that they are supposed to care about) has a rib injury bad enough to be checked out at the ER? Oh, that's right: A coach whose #1 priority is to put her best athletes in a routine no matter what, even if they are injured, suffering, and will possibly deal with long-term chronic pain their whole life as a result of doing incredibly jarring stunts while already injured. Immediately, I said to my roommate, "Looks like that trainer is getting fired!" In reality, the coaches should be fired.

This show was unbelievable on so many levels! But it is worth the watch for sure!

Jerry was the light of the show! No doubt! God bless you for being so beautiful, charismatic, talented and so hard working. We all are CHEERING for you! Your mom is looking down so proud of you!

Absolutely loved every minute of it. Learning about who they are and what it takes. Blown away. True athletes

There is something so special about sports documentaries-especially when they focus on young, scrappy athletes who have battled personal struggles to make a family out of their team. We have all seen the fluff behind the world of cheerleading, but this compelling documentary exposes the hard work and intense regimen behind this sport, while shifting our focus to the the individuals who make up the team and what makes each one special. By the end, I felt like I knew these remarkable, resilient young men and women. I feel grateful to have been let into their lives for a few fleeting hours. And Coach Monica is the heart and soul of this drama. As a former college athlete, I know what a gift it is to have a coach like her.

I binged straight through this limited series. Held my breath. Cried. Cheered the athletes on. What a lovely portrait of tenacity.

I'm enjoying this so far. Have watched 3 episodes but I swear to Lucifer, if I hear the word "like" one more I'm going to dig out my own eardrums.

This series was great! After each episode, I wanted to watch more. The last episode was emotional and by far the best. Great documentary.

Started watching this by accident as my partner started to watch it. All the cheerleaders were hardworking phenomenal athletes and the hard work they put into the routines left me jaw dropped. My disappointment was the lack of compassion by Monica as soon as an injury occurred, she didn't care about the person injured she just cared about herself. My other negative was Gabi's parents, money, money ,money is all they were interested in and how much they can sponge off the name of there daughter and at times during phone calls or chats you could clearly see Gabi wasn't happy.

The athletes are courageous, and it's great to see a glimpse into their lives. That being said, Monica is an abusive coach who the athletes worship. She will sacrifice people's bodies for her own glory. It's disgusting and disturbing that people idolize her.

I went into episode one thinking this Cheer show would be pure garbage. By the last episode I was screaming and cheering. Who knew so much went into this stuff. You must watch this. Must!

This must be one of the best sports documentary series ever made. It follows the fortunes of a cheer-leading team called Navarro who are training to win a competition at Daytona.

The genius of 'Cheer' is how the film-makers show us the excruciating intensity needed to succeed in this sport. Bravery and determination -quite apart from skill -is essential for success.

We are shown the background not only of the highly talented athletes but their inspiring leaders who may or may not take the team to victory.

So many of the characters we meet have charisma!

The vulnerabilities and backgrounds of individuals are explored, and it is inspirational to view how the team's strict regime and goals provides stability to persons who may otherwise go wayward.

The story become so intense I found myself needing a respite for a few days between episodes leading up to the climax.

But make no mistake:

This is compelling viewing!

9/10.

I spent 40 years as an investment banker for Texas municipal bonds. During that time, I had to sit through a school board meeting where the board president was being arrested for shooting his wife, where a community member screamed at the district lawyer for being "a Mexican," and where a husband hit the superintendents for sleeping with his wife. But, by far, I never experience ANYTHING as bad as a "cheerleader controversy." I sat for four hours while community members came close to blows over whether the cheerleader should be suspended over drinking beer at the game, or whether it was true that it "was just NyQuil."

In small town Texas, cheerleaders are the closest thing to royalty. They are terrific athletes and they are full of drama.

This is the peak of the lives of a lot of kids, and it deserves as much acclaim as "Friday Night Lights."

Trinity Valley was one of my clients, and I miss those kids.

Classify them as "athletes."

This docu-mini-series is interesting and well-done by the filmmakers! The series is 6 episodes, which feels like just the right length. It's a little bit slow to get going, but once it does, it is well worth it. It's TV drama gold because of how crazy it is, yet clearly none of it is manufactured by the filmmakers. This cheerleading program is just off-the-rails nuts.

The cheerleaders compete with broken ribs and coaches refer to it as some made-up word called "rib-e-osis." They get irritated when the cheerleaders go to the ER with injuries. It is some of the worst coaching I've ever seen in any sport, yet the head coach is put on a pedestal almost like a cult leader.

These kids are sweet, they work really hard, and unlike most reality shows where the drama lies in the interpersonal conflict, there is little of that type of conflict here. Instead, the conflict is just in how demanding and unsafe this sport is. Eye-opening and worth a watch! You'll root for the kids but you'll drop your head in your hands as you watch the coaching.

This is such a great docu-series to show the hard work these cheerleaders put it. I love how real it feels showing the ups and downs and the hardships of this sport. These teams deserve so much more recognition for their hard work. It's also crazy/scary to see how Varsity Spirit controls so much of what we see. It's like discovering a new sport and teams to love. You definitely fall in love with these kids and their stories.

After watching Season 1 i admired the drive and determination of all the cheerleaders and the coaches. You saw all the falls and fears and how they overcame them. I loved all the characters but then Season 2 it didn't feel the same what so ever it was a bit chaotic ; did we really need to know about other teams and I liked they put the episode about abuse victims story but I feel they should have started with that and then continued with the rest of the season. It seemed very choppy and I couldn't connect to the characters at all. ALSO i am confused how long you can cheerleader for and how old everyone really is. Lets hope season 3 is better.

I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot but it was a great show. The talent that these young adults have, their desire and determination is second to none.

I really hope for another series.

I have to say that while the passion and hard work of these athletes was inspiring, I found myself counting how many times everyone including the coach, use the word 'like'. Doesn't say much for the state of education they received.

This sport continues to be so impressive and freaking hardcore. I remember watching the cheerleaders at my school train. They give everything and have an insane amount of discipline. I loved hearing the backgrounds and the stories behind the members. They're people. It was honest and the bond and strength they share is amazing. Monica kicks and Gabi's parents need to back off, like damn. She's still a kid.

Even though I've been teaching at Navarro College for 13 years I had no idea about the struggles some of these young people went through. I've had most of them in my classes some of them are the best students I've ever taught. They don't bring their troubles into the classroom.

The people who claim that Monica is a monster are, to put it kindly, idiotic. Cheerleading is a sport and like all sports people get injured in it. The moment a football player is injured, someone immediately steps in for them. It's called SPORTS. If you have a beef, get upset with NCA which makes up these rules and pushes these teams.

My only beef with the series is the way it portrays Corsicana. It's almost laughable. You would think that all we have are dilapidated frame houses and hear only crickets and trains all the time. PLUS we have a very active student body with lots of activities for students. Ellen totally misrepresented Corsicana. As did the documentary.