Cheer (2020) s02e02 Episode Script

I'm a Texan-slash-Floridian.
I will never give up the Florida part of me.
But I do call Texas home now.
I grew up in a place called Ocala, Florida.
We didn't have money growing up.
We tried to play any sport to make sure that we were out of the house.
Football, basketball, any kind of thing to make sure that we stayed active.
Because our only goal was to be able to get out.
Only way to get out of a tough situation is to be the best at something.
It's kind of weird to be back.
- Played football right here too.
- Yeah.
And right here too.
- We ain't play here, though.
- We played here on the left.
That pole would've got in the way.
Office lady used to whoop us.
- If we was bad, mama gave her permission - What was - Oh, Ms.
Pat and Ms.
Cook.
- Ms.
Cook.
Out here you had to be tough.
You fighting your friend that stayed across the street from you, y'all gonna be friends tomorrow.
That's just how it went.
But anybody else try to come here and fight, they gotta fight all of us.
Number four.
The one over here to the left.
- Number four? - That's where we stayed at the most.
Oh damn.
We didn't have money growing up.
My mom and my dad split when I was an infant.
She had a job, she was working off and on everywhere, where she could find work.
She did what she could to help, as much as she could.
But 12 of us in a four-bedroom apartment, trying to feed all those people was hard, so ramen noodles were the thing of choice for the majority of those meals.
I think we all have that thought when you're growing up in the hood, that you need to be good at something to get out of the situation that you're handed.
Better be good at something or you'll be stuck here, so sports was the easiest way out for us.
I was a shorter guy, smaller guy, but I believe I'm better than everyone at everything.
You know, if I got an interception, you have so much adrenaline everything feels weightless, you just feel like on top of the world.
So, naturally, you want to try to show out.
You'll throw a back tuck, once we called it the "semi back.
" You know, what I'm growing up with, "throw a semi.
" I wasn't as experienced tumbling, but if I got an interception, I'm throwing a back tuck.
I'm showing out, you know, as much as I could.
When we was younger, he would literally do 20 to 25 back handsprings, back to back to back to back.
And anytime we would find another little kid that could do that, they would always compete.
Coach Farmer, his wife was a cheerleader's coach then.
I guess she seen that he can flip and everything, and she told him, "Why not come try out?" Ms.
Farmer see us and she's like, "Hey, you guys want to come cheer for me?" And I was like Of course, we're like, "No.
" "We're not cheerleaders.
You know? We play football.
" She's like, "No, I'm being serious.
You know? Nothing nothing too crazy.
" "We won't make you do any dances, any motions.
" "All you have to do is just throw girls and tumble.
" So we did it.
Growing up, all I knew was basketball, football.
Cheerleading was not a thing.
Didn't know anything of cheerleading besides they cheered on the sidelines.
I went to the gym with them and I saw it was a completely different world.
You know? They were doing things I had never tried.
That spiked my interest.
I was in the process of thinking about playing football in college.
The recruiting process wasn't easy for me at the time, uh, I didn't understand it at all.
I was by myself.
As you're going through life and life hits you and things hit you, you gotta learn how to adapt.
And that's one thing that Vontae's really been good at because he's been good at really anything.
They eventually tell him that he can get scholarships in cheerleading now, and he has a chance to better his education.
Everybody's gonna initially have their thoughts, like, "You all right?" You know? I was like, "What? I'm going to school, you know, for free, on a cheer scholarship.
" "Yeah.
That's what I'm doing.
You know.
I'm going to school for cheer.
" That was just my you know, my way to get out.
And I'm gonna do whatever I can, so that's how I got out.
Go, go, go, go, go.
Thank you very much! Here we go! All right.
All right.
Ready? Wait, wait, wait.
Okay, okay.
Here we go.
Let me see I see, I see Yes.
I see I see everything.
You're in the shot.
Thank you.
Okay.
Here we go.
I think I got it.
Wait, wait, wait.
Okay.
I Debra, I can't see that you're shoving it in your mouth.
Give me a profile that way.
Yes! And then, actually, come here.
Real quick.
Here, look.
You gotta shove it in that way.
There.
Like that.
There you go.
Don't cover it with your hand.
Don't There you go.
It's gonna fall apart.
Don't let it.
Everybody eating! Go into your mouth! Eat the cake! Cut, cut the cake! The cake! Cut the cake! Cut, cut the cake! - Cut the cake! Cut, cut, the cake! - Let's go! Come on! Yeah! Yeah! Come here.
Hold it up.
- The cake! - Yeah! You have Jordan Matter, who is a big deal.
And you have Gabi and not And it's not just Gabi.
You have Navarro Cheer all collabing together.
He's gotta come around, like, and be behind her.
S-step in right there and then, Will, squeeze in.
Ready? And three, two D-E-L-U-S-E! Collin Street Bakery! - Since 1896! - Was that good? I think it was good.
A lot of people, they wanna keep it to themselves.
Like, that is the worst thing you can do.
You wanna collaborate with everybody, because everybody has somebody else that doesn't follow you that follows them.
So it's all about collaboration and helping each other.
Go, cows, go! Go, cows, go! I have a question.
Do you know who Jordan Matter is? - What? - Do you know Jordan Matter? - No.
- He's a huge famous YouTuber.
Do you own, like, the cows and stuff? Well, my dad does.
Is there any way that they could get to the other side of the gate? I say we jump the fence.
I don't wanna jump the fence! - What do you think? - I'm jumping the gate.
Did you ask? We have permission.
Let's not make it so clear and be more freaked out about that.
Okay? Okay? When you see these influencers, their success is financial, but also they have become pop culture icons now.
When it happens, it feels unbelievable.
Tons of people are watching your videos.
People are coming up to you in the streets and crying and hugging you, and telling you how much you mean to them.
By nature, influencers and relevance is just poof and it's gone.
Once you get used to it, you kind of don't want it to go away.
We don't know this world.
We don't know if saying yes to this brand is a good thing for my career.
It's just opened the door to just a big mess that we have no idea how to deal with, and what to expect, really.
All right.
Ready? And go.
None of this is, like, really new to me, but for people like Morgan, I don't think they expected as much of this to be happening as it is.
What? I'll see y'all tomorrow! - Jerry, we know Faye! - Can I give you a hug? Now I have, like, an agent, booking me for all different types of opportunities.
And just so many doors opening for me.
There is no time to breathe.
Being on TV, like, being in a movie, meeting Tyler Perry, meeting Nicki Minaj.
Make sure you're taking the right steps, make sure you're opening the right doors, make sure you're meeting the right people.
Soon we wanna, like, start a YouTube channel, 'cause we could make so much money off of YouTube.
Like, everyone uses YouTube! Hey, guys! I'm doing my first Buick commercial and I'm so excited! I don't know what I like and don't like 'cause I've never done it.
So, I just want to test out every single thing.
Just start, like, building my brand off of things I actually care about and that I like doing.
If they are smart and if they have the right people behind them, they can definitely make this a career and I hope that this opportunity sets them for their entire life, honestly.
Sometimes you have these opportunities of a lifetime you just can't pass up, and I don't want them to pass up those opportunities.
Gabi, can you move your your bag.
Please, babe? Thank you.
You can't be doing this every night.
I think you should let me buy you a bed, even though you're not All right.
Remember, you're in Dillon and Brooke's place Keep your stuff tidy.
This is your corner.
- I know.
- Though you'll barely be here.
I got it.
Gabi, she told me it was the best year of her life, last year.
Like, the best.
So, when she came back from LA, she was crying.
She was like, "I miss my team.
I want to go back.
" I was like, "Well, you've got a commitment to another team.
" She's like, "Well, I could still do that.
" I'm like, "Okay.
" Once again, I'm gonna support my kid.
Dillon and Brooke were extremely gracious.
They said she could bring her stuff here, leave it, and then she can go and hop around.
She's gonna be home a lot, she's gonna be going to Paris, she's been in New York, she's going wherever wherever the next email takes her.
What a watermelon cleanse does is, because it's we're only technically eating watermelon for three days.
It is gonna flush out anything that's just sitting in your stomach.
I'm gonna tell you right now, Brooke, I'm gonna tell you too.
If you guys are gonna be, like, going hard, you need to eat food.
Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
- Gabi's That's why I'm doing it, because right now we're only doing choreo.
Like, we're not doing skills.
This is gonna be my first practice with you guys since I left.
Well, I don't count.
Gabi is an amazing athlete, like, better tumbler than I am.
Like, she's been doing this for so long and she deserves that spot, so I mean Like, that's all I can do and if she's the better person for that spot, like, that's great.
I'm so happy she's here and she's absolutely amazing and the team, like, is gonna do so well with her.
I'm really excited to get the routine.
- Yeah.
- Really, really excited.
I wonder how it's gonna come out.
I know.
I'm excited to see what he does this year, 'cause last year was, like, really good.
Like, it's really hard when you are going on a repeat of a win because People don't wanna see you win multiple times.
- I know I know how it goes.
- Yeah.
Isn't that sad? Like, there's always, like, the underdog that they want to win.
You know? It's it's the underdog, you know, "They've won too many times.
" Yeah.
So, tell me how many championships are on this wall from 2005 until 2016? - Oh my God.
- Look up.
Look up! How many are on the wall from 2005 until 2000 Four.
Three.
There are two banners from 2005 until 2015.
When I was at Trinity Valley, I didn't get the chance to win.
We weren't super close to Navarro.
We didn't really like them, they didn't really like us, and we just wanted to beat them because they thought they were untouchable.
And our Junior College National Champions with a 9.
933 Navarro College! When I left Trinity Valley, I was gonna make sure someone was in place that I thought would be the next step for the program.
You know, had had all the strengths that I didn't have.
That's how Vontae came into play.
Hit your stunt.
I don't know what's going on, but I'm about to have to figure it out for you.
He is still super talented.
Probably one of the most talented people around, which means that he can teach in a way that a lot of coaches can't.
He can do the stunt with one of the girls if something's going wrong.
Get off your toes.
I'mma adjust.
You should know what to do when I adjust.
He's also closer in age to the athletes, so he still remembers what it was like to be an athlete here at this college.
How come I'm hitting that without even warming up? It's not going over my right side.
I'm not blaming her, not blaming the spotter.
I'm hitting the skill.
I'm pushing through to catch her to the top.
This is my first head coaching job.
First head coaching job, first coaching job.
But when it came to teaching the skills, that was something that came natural to me.
Bring it in.
Bring it in.
Damn.
It's either we're being lazy or we're too tired, and I don't think you're too tired.
I just know that we can pay more attention to those little details.
So that's what I mean by "don't waste your reps.
" Go ahead.
Since I've been here, there's never been a Daytona where we all got off the floor and knew without a doubt that we had done enough reps.
And since I've been here, there's never been a Daytona we won.
So until your stunt is perfect, and until you know you can go into it with absolute certainty, you're not doing enough.
I want you leaving as highest score ever competed.
I wanna be the first 100.
Trust me, I would be ecstatic with something like that.
Won't be able to take me out the water if we get 100.
We've got a handful of third-year athletes on the team.
Devon, James, Molly, Jeron as well.
I just feel like I owe those athletes the most.
I don't want them to leave Trinity Valley without having a ring on their finger.
All right.
Well, just like every year, we always have this meeting.
- I'm nervous.
- What you nervous about? I don't know.
- I'm scared.
- Don't be scared.
All right, James.
So, this is your third year.
First two times, you didn't get what you needed.
What are your goals this year for Daytona? I don't know.
I feel like this year is probably the best this team has, at least from my experience, ever looked.
So, I think honestly think winning is a reasonable goal.
First thing I'm gonna ask you is, how could we prepare you guys better? I'd like to do more full-outs than we've done in the past, and I think that we're kind of just tired of, like, feeling like we could've done more at the end.
You know? It's like a standard that I have for myself that I'm not at, 'cause I just feel myself, like, slipping away little by little.
Well, I don't think you're slipping away.
It's hard to manifest what you can do.
It's pretty special, Jeron.
Listen.
Y'all put me up on a high standard right now, stressing me out.
You know, when you walk into practice, anybody that's around you is probably gonna have a better day just because they're standing around you.
You brought a different element to the team that we didn't have.
- And we desperately need it, so - Yeah.
Desperately need it.
Is it the gay element? I love that.
It's not even I mean, it's your energy.
Yeah, that's what I mean.
That's You can say it's gay element, but it's definitely the energy for me.
Jeron is a stumbler, without a doubt.
He can tumble and he can stunt.
He's one of our best tumblers because he can do bounding skills when it comes to tumbling.
He also can do our hardest stunt.
He can do a back handspring full-up.
He throws the pyramids.
He's one of the main people in pyramids.
And he's our flare when it comes to performing.
He can make a team boost to another level with his personality.
He's very flamboyant.
He has a lot of charisma.
So, he's going to bring energy to anybody he's around.
Let's go, A-team! When you have somebody like Jeron that can just walk into a gym, and by being himself, allow other people to decompress a little bit, you can't put a price on it.
It is so nice from a coaching standpoint to have somebody that oozes joy.
I did try out for Navarro 2016 in Daytona.
I tried out for Navarro in front of Monica, and she was like, "Okay, like" You know? I felt like she had an interest in me.
Like, I felt like I felt like she liked me.
I don't know.
But then I got an email back saying I didn't make the team.
Never knew anything about Trinity Valley.
Even when I went to go try out for Navarro, had no clue who they were.
So, my best friend put me in contact with Vontae.
I want to say within, like, a week's time, I was on a flight, ready to go to camp out here.
Five, six.
Pretty, Maggie! It's much better.
It's much better than the last time I saw it.
Our drive as a team itself, like, yes, we have our off days, but, like, on our good days, we are great.
Hey! Let's go! Let's go! They're trying to make sure that we beat ourselves so that we are better than what we've been in the past, because we know what it takes.
When I first came in, I wanted to just have clean, structured routines that flowed well and that looked good, but it wasn't scoring well when you got to the overall effect of the routine.
We were losing tens of points.
Literally, we can do the same thing as Navarro can.
Like, we don't really wanna dance.
It's like, Trinity Valley, straight.
Navarro, gay.
Like, when they perform and when we perform Like, of course, you have, like, me and Dre who will give you, like, the extra oomph.
But over there, you got all the gays who are gonna give you everything on the floor! Everybody walking like me now Everybody talking like me now Everybody Monica recruits athletes that perform like nobody can touch them.
It's almost like a cockiness to it.
TT, throw your hips to the back.
I need the circle.
Give me the circle.
Pow, pow, pow.
Boom.
Yeah! Good! Good work! Monica's very, very, very big on our overall impression and our performance.
Back in the day, it was more just skill to skill.
We were the first team that really made choreography a priority, that extra element of entertainment.
They give the people what they want.
They all engage with their facial expressions, which always makes it so fun to watch for not just the judges, but everyone in the crowd.
Navarro started incorporating that into their routines.
It's been getting good results.
You want to be able to watch it because of that vibe.
TVCC has leaned more towards the collegiate side, where everything is very clean and easy to watch, and very simple in its presentation.
And Navarro is very "All Star," which is high energy, stuff happening everywhere.
Basically, a circus on the floor.
Their athletes are giving every ounce of themselves to make it look easy and fun and effortless and clean.
If I could describe it in one word, both girls and guys, it's "confidence.
" It's very hard trying to be the life of the team.
You got this.
You're bigger and stronger.
How badly do you want to win? But also to be the only boy stunter that has been on mat all three years, it's a lot.
Because it's like I'm supposed to set this example, but I can't be perfect.
You need to perform that way, to have that type of confidence, which is something we've been working on quite a bit this year.
Trying to take care of my kids Handlebars handle my biz - I'll be laughing the whole time.
- I know.
It tickles a lot.
It tickles too much! Like, come on, manicure and pedicure after mat tryouts, and a weekend off.
A good a good start to the, uh, semester.
A good a good Not the semester, a good start to Daytona season, baby.
- Daytona season.
- Come on.
- A manicure? That's bougie.
- Jerry! Bougie, ain't it? Damn.
- Can I give you some mat talk? - You wanna give me some mat talk? - Come on.
Give it to him.
- Way to go, Jerry! You got this! Yes! - Crazy.
- We gotta take a picture! - Thank you so much! Thank you! - I love you, Jerry! Okay.
Kara and Andrew.
Okay.
Kara and Andrew.
Hey, Kara and Andrew! I wanna congratulate you guys on getting married this past weekend.
You guys are extremely blessed, and I believe y'all are gonna have an amazing time.
I'm so proud of you guys.
Happy you guys get to spend the rest of your lives with each other and a lifetime of just love, y'all.
Congratulations! - Are you doing Cameos here? - Yeah.
Oh my God! I'm I'm not gonna scream like that here.
We're in a place of work.
What color are you getting? - I don't know.
- Anything for America's sweetheart.
Anything for America's sweetheart.
I was thinking maybe a cute little red? - A little - A cute little red.
These colors are kinda bland.
I don't know what I'mma do, I don't know what I'mma pick.
Jerry, I'mma tell Monica I'm not gonna be able to tumble, I got clean feet now.
Do it.
See what she say.
She's gonna be like, "Payton!" She'll be like, "Alternate? Okay!" - I'm just excited to get our routine down.
- I know.
And especially with Dahlston.
- When's Gabi coming here? - Not yet.
I told you it's on sight.
I told you it's on sight! I told you it's on-site! I told you! I told you! - I missed you.
- Oh God.
I missed you too.
Gabriella? - Hi! - Hi! - Oh.
Look who made it! - Yeah! Look who made it! - What's up, girl? - Not much.
What's up? Oh.
You know.
Five, six, seven, and eight.
One, two.
The stamina is fine.
I got the s-stamina for the stunt.
Uh-huh.
Do you? Do you have it for the whole routine? - I said the stunt, not the routine.
- It's not a stunt routine, though.
My body gets tired, and my brain is tired.
I know you be staying up till four in the morning.
She never stays up late.
- Don't try calling me out.
- Right? Come for you again.
Literally, try again.
Try again.
I get my beauty sleep! Who does Who shows up to Who shows up to class almost late every single day? You! - "You!" - Who gets there early? Me! - Who comes to wake you? - Prepared! Who got a 50 on their test? - "You!" - You! Who got an 82? Me! - Yeah.
- Who's on mat? None of us! - There you go.
That was better.
- There you go.
That was better.
Try to hop into it, maybe? Like, just hop into it.
Like, focus on squeezing your, like, the balls of your ankle.
If you're not used to it, it's gonna be harder for sure.
- Ooh.
That one was good! - Yeah.
You just gotta get the feel of it.
- It's all about feet under.
- Yeah.
- That one felt better.
- Feet under, arms up.
- Hi! - Oh yay! - How are you? - I'm making it! I'm excited.
I've been hearing from everyone, "You're gonna die when you see it.
" I said, "I don't want to see it till it's in-person.
" So - What? - I'm ready to see it.
- I said, "I think he's gonna like it.
" - Yeah.
It's gonna be great.
The pyramid might be shaky.
That's what he said.
Change change the middle.
It's just little things that will make it so much better, but it's, like, let's not kill people.
- You'll get the idea.
- Yeah.
We'll start with stunts first, then move on to the pyramid so he can see that as well, and then we'll do a skills check.
You'll have two to three tries.
If it doesn't look good, we're probably not gonna do it.
So, make it look good.
- TT needs to scoot back.
- Yeah.
He does.
Oh my God! She does have good lines.
Yeah.
See? Gabi's never learned it.
She's fine.
I think she'll be fine.
Gabi won't get it right now because this is her first practice.
- So, we can just do it with the four? - Mm-hmm.
Or do we want Brooke to do it? No.
One, three, five One.
Whoo! Let's go! I assisted another choreographer for multiple years.
Last year was actually my first year to do it alone.
A man named Brad Vaughan who worked with Navarro for years and years Out of Corsicana, Texas, Navarro College.
They have an outstanding choreographer in Brad Vaughan, a guy we run into at many of the All Star events out of Dallas.
and was my mentor, I would go as far to say a second father to me.
Last year, it was actually Brad's choice to not be involved anymore.
I do not know why.
I-I don't know the extent of it.
So, I think that was a conversation between Monica and him.
But that was very hard, extremely hard for both me and Monica.
Dahlston had been coming with him for several years, and he has the same style that we've always done.
I just have a certain look that I like in a routine, so when Brad couldn't do it, then the obvious choice was to go with Dahlston.
When Bryce was going down the center that one year? - How it opened like a flower? - Right.
'Cause we could send cute round-off holes through those windows too Monica doesn't like to switch it up much.
Obviously, she's built an incredible program and an amazing legacy here.
And so, we're just gonna keep doing the recipe that we know and love here, and hope for the best.
Everybody wants to win.
None of these kids are here to go and get second place.
Over the years, our choreography scores have been not spectacular.
And so, Vontae wanted to add that element of excitement and charge.
When he talked to us about bringing Brad, I was like, "Absolutely, man.
Bring him down.
" - I'm Brad.
- I've met you briefly one time.
- Good to see you.
- But like Vontae, I'd lost to you a lot.
Exactly.
I'm like, "I went against them a lot too.
" And this year, he's he's our guy.
I'd like to get a vibe of the team, and and kinda see their skills a little bit to kinda see, uh I think every team has a weakness.
You know, in any team, in any level, I think they have a weakness, and so I like to see what their strengths and weaknesses are.
First thing I'm gonna look at is some standing-tumbling skills, and and kinda see what the just the quality of the toe-touch fulls look like first.
So Trinity Valley, you're saying, has hired Brad Vaughan to be their choreographer? I didn't know that.
I have talked to Khris Franklin and, uh, he didn't tell me that.
Wow.
Brad, of course, did Navarro's routines from 2005 to 2018.
He's talented.
Like, super talented.
Him and the rings he got them in those years The first few years I was here, I was just getting destroyed by Brad's choreography, just every year, year in and year out.
Brad is incredibly well-known for how meticulous he is and how detail-oriented he is.
Brad is so good at shaping things that, even when nothing is going on, it looks like something perfect is going on.
He wins the choreography.
He's just creative.
Navarro College, Junior College Champions! You've got the coach and the protege who run the All Star world, choreography-wise, going head-to-head.
I'm not turning him down.
All right.
One at a time, please say your name when you go, and we'll see what you got.
Yes! TVCC is spectacular.
It's like they put on a Cheerleading 101 with the most difficult skills that you can throw.
Dip, pull! Yes! I wouldn't say Trinity Valley doesn't perform, but their strength is their stunts.
Since I've been here, we haven't lost in stunting, like, we win in that category, which is my specialty.
They have always been better stunters than us.
They work a lot more on stunting.
Because of that, they're not focusing as much on the small details.
Four, up front.
Front on five, please.
Then, walk around your stunt.
Three.
One, go, three, four - Lock your arms! - One.
Lord have mercy.
You know, Trinity Valley, technically, is super strong.
It's just maybe the pace is not as intense as what Navarro has been doing the last couple years.
Y'all, these high-V's have gotta be good.
The high-V's are not cute.
Two, three, four, and five! Six, and seven, eight.
Sharp, one When you do the snake, drop your left ear.
Left ear.
I think they do stuff not as flashy as Navarro was doing the flash.
Stiff boys.
I like the snake, so don't ruin it for me.
I love this snake.
Seven, kick, eight.
One, two - Okay.
- Seven, then kick, eight.
Yeah.
If you do it and hit it over and over and over again, you learn to, like, really start adding your own vibe to it.
And I think that Navarro's always been great at doing that, and I think that Trinity Valley finally figured that out.
- Hi-yah! Hi-yah! - Hi-yah! Choreography was setting us apart and now they got Brad to do their routine, so I know their routine will be good.
The quality will be there, but it's not what you do, it's how you do it, so For Trinity Valley, they've fallen short many times.
And now they're like, "If we can't beat them, join them!" I need to email this lady this stuff from my Instagram, but I don't know how to do it.
Embed impressions, engagements, video thread - What's this for? Who is this girl? - That's the bureau lady.
But I have to send her that stuff from my social media.
Did y'all talk about Kendall's agents for Morgan? - We sent an email.
- Okay.
My agent said that the modeling part of their company is interested in talking with her, so I want to loop her in.
And now we just gotta figure out La'Darius.
Okay.
So, I might send over this TV offer I got for La'Darius to them and see if they might have some interest in, like I don't know how big it is.
If it's big, they might go, "Okay.
We wanna talk to him.
" Yeah.
La'Darius, did you see where my person emailed you? You can say, "Looking forward to it", or whatever.
I can't remember what he said, but you could just respond "Moses and Daniel will be in touch since casting the is out of New York.
" "They will likely want you to put yourself on tape which is the" All right.
Say just say, "Sounds good.
" I don't care about fame.
That stuff does nothing to me.
As many followers that you have does nothing for me.
I don't care.
But with me and Monica, if she tells me to do something, I'm going to do it.
Like, literally, it's like, "Voila!" This person wants the best for me.
This person loves me.
We'll figure it out.
I don't have those types of people in my life.
That's why we're getting it set for you.
Right.
- That's what I'm trying to get set here.
- Okay.
Is this for you, because, uh, you gotta have somebody.
- Right.
- Like, not me, like, like, somebody.
Right.
That's what I'm saying.
I don't have nobody that's that smart in my life as a parent figure, - other than you, that knows - That's why I'm working on it! I got it! Okay.
I was just making sure, 'cause, you know, queen is I got you! We as the "celebrity cheerleaders," I would say, when we all show up to practice, it's like, "Oh my goodness, like, y'all are, like, known.
" But, like, I'm not gonna worship nobody.
So, I'm not gonna make nobody feel like they have to worship me.
No matter how much I call myself "the queen.
" Because I've seen so many bad cheer-lebrities and role models, I always take everything very seriously when it comes to cheerleading.
I play mother now, and I make sure everybody is good.
Yes.
Five, seven I check on people.
It's just a good thing.
It's something that God gave me, so I just do it.
Because I am the most outspoken, it's my job to make sure this team succeeds.
Five, six, seven Everybody else is gonna talk amongst themselves, under their breath.
No.
I'm gonna do it in a Monica way.
I always think to myself before I say anything, "What would Monica say and how would Monica say it?" One and two, go, three and four.
Sharper, six, seven, and better! One, two T? You're a better tumbler than them three.
- What you say? - More performance than all three.
La'Darius, you know, he's a special situation.
He has his moments.
Like, what is this? That's like See? You're trying to Caucasian it up! You're trying to Caucasian it up! - You're gentrifying it! - No! He really needed guidance from the beginning on how to communicate with other people.
I expect you to be just as good as me.
I don't care where you came from or what you did before here.
I want you to be just as good.
if you're not here to work your butt off, then you shouldn't have came.
He has these periods where he's incredible and positive and uplifting, but then when he has these other times when he's not, it's very difficult to deal with.
You gotta pick up the pace! Y'all are scared.
You can't fly on people or stunt people.
This is where you need to shut up, and stop crying about it.
If you wanna go pout and get a diaper and get a bottle, y'all can go outside and do that.
Here La'Darius is an amazing teammate when he wants to be.
La'Darius can go 0 to 100 within one second.
When that happens, it's very hard to control and that affects the team not always in a positive way.
I like La'Darius, I really do.
I want to impress him.
But I feel like if La'Darius doesn't like you, then it's gonna stay that way.
I might get irritated 'cause some people don't do what they need to be doing.
But I'm not gonna just hold it over.
I'm not gonna carry a grudge.
I'm gonna be like, "Look, I love you.
" Because I'm telling you, that negative toxic lifestyle is not gonna get you far.
That's why I'm very glad I have Monica in my life.
- What do I do? - It's due by Sunday.
We need to work on that, like, in the next couple days.
You can video it with it your iPhone.
If you can do it Thursday, we can send it to them and let them see if that's what - And then redo it if we need to.
- Right.
- Something like that.
Okay.
- When I have time.
I was just calling let you know they put a VRF for a van tomorrow.
- So you need one for tomorrow.
- Yeah.
I'll I'll send you the VRF now.
Just letting you know because originally, the game was at home.
- Okay.
Thanks, sir.
- All righty.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.
Tell us about this basketball game between you and Navarro.
- What typically happens at these things? - Uh, it's basically a cheer-off.
- Matt, are you going to Navarro? - Yeah.
You're my stunt partner.
- Be prepared.
- Like for what? For a lot of tricks and flips.
All right.
What happens when you guys are near each other? It intensifies.
That that want to to kill intensifies.
They wanna show up because they know they're watching, vice versa.
If one of them tumble, I'm tumbling, maybe.
- Don't throw a pull.
- Let us know.
Don't throw a pull.
Hey.
Knowing me, I'm gonna get height.
I'mma I feel like they're gonna, like, try to, like, out-dance y'all.
They know they're gonna lose.
Okay, but I can't out-dance them.
It's like, "We're gonna be a badder bitch than you," kind of deal.
I go to these games because it could be hostile, especially because of the rivalry between the two teams, and I don't want my cheerleaders to make any bad decisions.
We'll hopefully get a win, and if we do a win, we'll do "Go, Cardinals" in their gym.
That's always how it's been.
In LA, we got breakfast in our hotel, and they had avocado toast.
- So I've seen a lot of people eating it.
- Oh yeah.
I tried it and it was good.
- They just spread avocado on toast.
Right? - And season it and stuff.
Yup.
I'm glad you're eating, anyway.
- Yeah, you must've been hungry.
- Me too.
Yeah.
That's what happens when you don't eat in four days.
So, this weekend's pretty busy? Friday, we have the clinic from 1:00 to 3:00.
Go to Dallas, do the meet and greet, have dinner.
Then the next morning, we have meet and greet after meet and greet And now you know why I'm tired all the time.
- That's why we came down.
- Make sure I'm eating during the day.
I know.
That's why we came down, because we we were actually worried about you, and trying to see if we could help, but I don't know what else what we can do for you.
So, we'll go to the game tonight.
Who who are you playing? - Or who's the team playing? You're not.
- T-V-C-C! - Our rivals.
- Oh, Trinity Valley.
- Yup! - Ooh.
- So, we're wearing our sparkly uniforms! - What is Oh, so are they gonna have their cheerleaders there too? - Yup.
- Uh-oh.
So, it's gonna be a screaming battle to the end! This is gonna be a good one.
So, it has nothing to do with the basketball team? - It's just the cheer teams.
- Absolutely not.
"Let's go! Let's get it!" I'm like, "La'Darius, back me up, bro!" "Back me up!" Yeah.
But it's about to be crazy.
Where's Cap? It's Cap.
Have you ever done this in middle school? Help! Help! I'm actually super excited for these games.
I'm excited to see Payton Sykes.
Oh yes.
He came and visited Helen last year.
Yeah.
He tried out and everything too.
- He tried out? - Yeah! He made both teams and he respectfully Oh.
I didn't know that.
contacted Vontae, and was like, "Honestly, like, thank you for the opportunity.
" Which I feel like that's very respectful, considering you just tried out.
- You don't owe anything to us, you know? - Yeah.
Does either one of you need my nose hair trimmer? No! Do you have any bobby pins? Gill, your bow.
Their bows are big! We have small heads! I got a big head, so it fits me great.
And we're supposed to look like Navarro girls.
We have to look better than them.
I mean, my bow's all dirty.
I'm missing the rhinestone thing.
- I got scratches all over my face - At least you have a bow.
- That is true.
- You know what? I'm not teasing my hair.
I washed my hair.
So, I think I'm doing pretty good.
I showered before a game.
I'm doing pretty good.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Lewis Orr Courts on the campus of Navarro College for tonight's regional basketball game between the visiting Trinity Valley Cardinals and I don't know why they're trying to take up the whole court.
Don't say nothing.
Let's go, Valley! - Let's go, Cards! - Let's go, Cards! Y'all better win this! Vontae picked people that hate Navarro the most to cheer this game.
Yeah, I know.
I think he did that on purpose.
How well do you know Monica? I don't know her well at all.
We don't relate in anything besides coaching teams, so it's not like we have a lot to talk about.
She's my rival.
You know, I don't really know Vontae that well.
I've, um Just some things that I've heard that he said that are not really nice.
And I don't feel he knows me well enough to have an opinion.
I-I don't know.
I just I guess I'm always gonna be that way because I'm that type of competitor.
I can't stand him.
There's just, you know, different I wish they were more respectful.
The end of the day, it doesn't matter who we compete against.
I could have been 1,000 miles away from them.
And if I wanted to build a great program, I still would've done the same thing.
We just worry about ourselves.
You know, focusing on other people or focusing on other teams, that's just not for us.
Damn! Come on, Ty! Ready, and Hit me with the horns Keep making noise! Keep making noise! Yeah! Defense! Defense! Here we go, now, here we go, now Here we go, now, here we go, now Here we go, now, here we go, now - Let's go! - Let's go! Here we go, now Oh Yeah! Let me clear my throat Back to the rhythm of the funky fly So I can get busy just one more time To the beat, and you don't quit It's that old-school rap With that new-school hip Peter Piper picked a pepper But who got the rhyme? And I could still Trip up the house, everybody I bet you never knew what I could do All right, so we're getting on shoulders then next time.
Yeah So lookie here Check the flavor of the rhythm I wrote Yes! Oh Have mercy, babe I hope you don't mind Let me clear my thoughts Somebody make some noise In this joint, babe Go, Cardinals! Go! Go, Cardinals! Go, Cardinals! Go! Go, Cardinals! Go, Cardinals! Go! Go, Cardinals! Go, Cardinals! Go! Go, Cardinals! Go, Cardinals! Go! Go, Cardinals! Go, Cardinals! Go! Wow! Let's go, boy! I've never had a coach like Vontae.
The way that he goes so hard for the Valley, it speaks volumes to me.
The type of coach, you know, is what the type of team is gonna be.
I don't think we're at a disadvantage anymore.
We're at the point where we're both just as talented.
- What do we do? - We execute! - Which way? - The hard way! - How do we do it? - The hard way! - How do we do it? - The hard way! Yeah! Look at the scoreboard now! Hey, hey.
Y'all lost! Y'all lost! Y'all lost! Majority of athletes that go to Navarro go there because they want to win, and I want them to understand that Trinity Valley is just as talented.
It's not like we go to Daytona and we're some scrubs.
We're not.
I've won enough trophies.
I don't need to win any more trophies to prove myself as a coach.
But, I mean, obviously, yes, I do want to be the best, and I'll always feel guilty when we don't win.
I like Monica.
I like Monica.
She's always been very nice to me.
Even when we won in 2016, she was the first person to come shake my hand.
At nationals, we always talk about why we're still coaching 'cause it's so stressful when you get to nationals, we're just like, "Why are we doing it? I can't sleep, I can't eat.
" It's tough.
Monica kinda started off with Navarro like I started off with Trinity Valley, with the exception of Trinity Valley had already established a name prior to me getting here.
It had just kinda gone through some bad luck some bad luck years.
Whereas, I'm not real sure what kinda name Navarro had established for itself prior to Monica.
From the best of my knowledge, it'spretty much just been her.
I literally started from nowhere.
We've never won and there's very few people on the team.
I was recruiting guys out of the weight room, just to have enough guys to make a team.
Monica Aldama, director of the Cheerleaders & Showstoppers, spoke with Northern Cable News We had a raffle tonight to help raise money, uh, for our trip to Daytona Beach this week, and we raffled off four items, a 19-inch color TV, a VCR, a cordless telephone, and a gift basket I could've really taken the easy way out and just been a little cheer sponsor that makes sure they get to where they need to be.
Uh, obviously, I would never do that because I do wanna be the best.
But when you win so often, people forget that to get to that, it's so much sacrifice and so much hard work that we're putting in.
When she started, there was not much of a cheer program.
Daytona, I remember going there in the early days.
You go, you take an inexperienced team, an inexperienced coach, really, and you see what the level of competition is.
And, uh, you see, "Okay.
We got a lot to work on.
" She learned by watching kids who had the skill, learned from watching better teams.
Yeah! And she got better every year.
It was at that point, I realized, "Okay, she's gonna be a good coach.
" Not knowing she's gonna get 14 championships.
Pedal to the metal, she was gonna get that job done.
I know that when she loses, she gets as upset, and she has emotional outbreaks like the rest of us, because she's passionate.
The day she doesn't care is the day she'll get out, and she's not close to getting out.
When I first started, Navarro College had not ever won a national championship in cheerleading.
My goal was to be the best cheer program in the country, and that's what I did.
And I never did toe the line No man is master to me I ain't that kind Because of all the outside pressure and the distractions, people are going to doubt us.
So, I have been working 14-hour days just to do what we need to do to make sure the team is ready.
I have a lot of critics that have no idea what they're talking about.
That's your fuel to put in the hours and put in the work, and push through when you think you're too tired to do it again.
I thrive on that.
I was born to be fast I was born to run Well, I was born to run To get ahead of the rest Just to feel free And be someone I was born to be fast I was born to run Nobody gonna make me Do the things their way By the time you figure it out It's yesterday Well, it comes To he who waits, I'm told But I don't need it When I'm old and gray Yeah, I want it today Well, I was born to run To get ahead of the rest And all that I wanted Was to be the best Just to feel free And be someone I was born to be fast I was born to run I was born to run To get ahead of the rest