Most people don’t view cheerleading as a sport, but I am not one of those people. I can vividly remember sitting in my living room with my mom anticipating the next team to enter the stage at the NCA & NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship for at least seven years of my early life.

When I first heard of a new documentary about the sport of cheerleading I was over the moon with excitement, it would be a way to gain that childhood excitement that I haven’t experienced for many years of my recent life. I was very hesitant to begin the series because I am notorious for never finishing any show or movie. I’ll usually end up getting mad at some character or person and then just completely give up on the rest of the show. I figured that was what was going to happen with Cheer and I would just end up Googling the ending of the documentary. But to my surprise I finished the complete series in one sitting. I was hesitant to begin the series because I feared that the entire series would completely lack any substance and the focus of the six episodes would just be about the stereotypical pretty blond cheerleaders. Also I didn’t watch any of the trailers or any previews so I was going in almost completely blind. 

To my surprise this documentary series was stuffed full of gold nuggets of interesting events and stories that captivated my attention from the first five minutes on. First of all, the cinematography is absolutely beautiful and captivating, it makes the documentary enjoyable for the people who maybe care about the visuals more so than the messages throughout the episodes. For me though, I enjoyed learning about the lives of the cheerleaders and the coaches more so than how pretty it all looked. All of the stories told by the members of Navarro Cheer were beautiful and touching, so touching that I cried every time one of the members shared their very personal stories. One member who I absolutely loved was La’Daruis Marshall, he had a beautiful outlook on life in my opinion and I could heavily relate to him and his personality. I think that the realatiblity the documentary provides is an extremely appealing aspect of the series, no matter who you are, where you are from, what your background is, there will be something that you enjoy about this documentary. 

Overall, if you are looking to go on an emotional rollercoaster, then buckle up and watch Cheer. Cheer is also a great documentary to just have on as background noise if you are doing your homework or taking a cat nap on a Sunday afternoon. There are so many opportunities to learn something about the competitive sport of cheerleading, and to learn how to become a better version of you as well. If you are searching for some self improvement then I highly recommend Cheer because it gave me a refreshing different outlook on my everyday life. Cheer is amazing and I hope that there will be a second season in the coming years, and I hope that Navaro can get another huge win in Daytona this year.