Photo: YouTube
This coach is the real deal.
By Nicole Pomarico — Written on Jan 14, 2020
Since Cheer premiered on Netflix on January 8, people can't stop talking about it — especially when it comes to the woman at the center of it all.
The docuseries follows the Navarro College cheer team in Corsicana, Texas, sharing a brutal look at how difficult a sport cheerleading can really be, and the program at the school has been pretty successful, in large part because of the leadership of their coach.
But who is Monica Aldama? Here's everything fans need to know about the Cheer coach who's breaking records and changing lives.
1. Who is Monica Aldama? She's being described as "an icon."
At least, that's what her bio on the Navarro College website says — and they're not wrong, since Navarro holds the record for highest score in history at the National Cheerleader's Association (NCA) College Nationals, thanks to her coaching.
After graduating, Aldama saw herself as the CEO of a company in New York but on a chance decided to apply for the cheer coach position," says her bio. "Her cheerleaders refer to her as the Queen, but she is always humble and prefers to stay on the sidelines. She has a very strong work ethic and her cheerleaders brag how much she taught them not only about cheer but about life."
2. Her life revolves around cheerleading and her family.
Just looking at Aldama's Instagram makes it clear that these two things are definitely the priority in her life. Not only are there plenty of photos that feature her with husband Chris Aldama and their kids, Austin and Ally, but there are also plenty of shots representing her work with Navarro College, from the people on her team to announcements about the cheer program in general.
3. Aladama's daughter is into cheer, too.
Not only do both of Aldama's kids go to the same school — Southern Methodist University — but they're both college athletes, with son Austin on the football team and daughter Ally cheering. After watching Cheer and seeing what a huge part it plays in Aldama's life, it makes sense that her daughter would take after her in that respect. It looks like this is definitely a passion that they both share.
4. She feels she built the team from the ground up.
In an interview from earlier this month, Aldama admitted that she sees the Navarro program as her "baby," since she built herself.
"My goal was to be the best cheer program in the country," she said, adding, "We have a lot of kids who could have gone anywhere they wanted," Aldama told KWTX. "When they see our success — they're interested, but when they come down and see the family aspect of it — it keeps them here."
5. She was a big part of what inspired this documentary.
In the same interview, Greg Whitley, who directed Cheer, said that while doing research, Navarro College really stuck out to him because of Aldama.
"It doesn't take very long to search on the internet to find Monica and Navarro," Whitley said. "As soon as I heard her voice, I immediately thought she would be an amazing main subject of a documentary series, she was incredibly passionate and you could hear how much she cared."
6. Many of Navarro's routines can be found on YouTube.
Interested in what life at Navarro was like before the Cheer documentary? Aldama's YouTube channel features many of their routines from before the series was even filmed, proving that this school has been impressive for a long time — and so have Aldama's skills as a coach.
Now we have to sit back and wait to find out If Netflix renews Cheer for another season. Judging by how many people are talking about, it seems the streaming service could have a major hit on their hands.
Nicole Pomarico is an entertainment and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared in Cosmo, Us Weekly, Refinery29, and more.