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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Netflix "Cheer" series - AIBU to find it horrifying?

61 replies

XelaM · 10/08/2021 16:32

Just finished watching the "Cheer" Nexflix docu-show about cheerleading at Nevarra Junior College. What on earth...?! Has anyone seen this? I may have gone mad, but the training looks absolutely horrific! These kids (girls in particular) are truly risking their lives and that no one broke their neck on camera was just good luck. The number of injuries is insane and they do life-threatening stunts on concrete floor with a thin matt on top. They seem to just be told to get on with it and when girls keep getting dropped (on their heads most of the time) they simply replace them. That's not how gymnasts are trained at all! Why is this allowed? Am I missing something?

OP posts:
Original poster
XelaM · 10/08/2021 17:43

Ahh the clip didn't work.

It's not the inherent danger of the sport, it's the fact that there are zero safety measures taken and absolutely zero concern for the health of those kids

OP posts:
StuffYouAllInTheCrust · 10/08/2021 17:45

I watched and winced a lot. I did love it though! Do a quick google of ‘where are they now’ one of the popular cast members was up to something much more horrifying...

RandomMess · 10/08/2021 17:47

Again the zero concern for the kids is typical of college sport...

merrymouse · 10/08/2021 17:47

I think the big difference between this and horse riding was that many of the children in the programme had difficult backgrounds and saw this as their only route to achieving something better (although there might be an overlap here with jockeys?).

Original poster
XelaM · 10/08/2021 17:48

@StuffYouAllInTheCrust I actually found that! So sad that it was the one who was the most likeable of the characters as well

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UndeadSlut · 10/08/2021 17:53

Thanks for reminding me OP, I wanted to watch this last time it was discussed and had forgotten!

I just think it's incredibly impressive. Dangerous, no doubt, but so are many other sports. It's wonderful to watch. And Bring It On was my favourite movie when I was 14, and still a great watch now!

StuffYouAllInTheCrust · 10/08/2021 17:54

He was one of my favourite cast members, such a shock when I read that! It was a shame about Lexi too but she sounds like she’s back on the right path now.

I always said if I’d be born in the US then I would’ve been a Cheerleader but after watching that, maybe not Grin

RandomMess · 10/08/2021 17:59

The DC with difficult backgrounds are more likely to be at that type of College rather than a University.

CaveMum · 10/08/2021 18:21

You should follow some of the stars on Instagram - Gabby Butler in particular (who definitely suffered from having a Cheer Mom/Dad) frequently posts some incredible stunts.

Polmuggle · 10/08/2021 18:25

@XelaM

Ahh the clip didn't work.

It's not the inherent danger of the sport, it's the fact that there are zero safety measures taken and absolutely zero concern for the health of those kids

The clip did work but where have you gotten your opinion on safety measures from? The floor in particular? Because the show showed a sprung floor if I remember right?
merrymouse · 10/08/2021 18:27

@RandomMess

The DC with difficult backgrounds are more likely to be at that type of College rather than a University.
Some of them were only able to go to the college because they had a Cheer leading scholarship
RandomMess · 10/08/2021 18:33

Exactly.

University depends on having a college fund and academic ability.

I read recently on the ever increasing college/uni fees in the US and how they have outstripped inflation Ana you can no longer work your way through over several years like you used to be able to do Sad

Polkadots2021 · 10/08/2021 18:37

@XelaM

Just finished watching the "Cheer" Nexflix docu-show about cheerleading at Nevarra Junior College. What on earth...?! Has anyone seen this? I may have gone mad, but the training looks absolutely horrific! These kids (girls in particular) are truly risking their lives and that no one broke their neck on camera was just good luck. The number of injuries is insane and they do life-threatening stunts on concrete floor with a thin matt on top. They seem to just be told to get on with it and when girls keep getting dropped (on their heads most of the time) they simply replace them. That's not how gymnasts are trained at all! Why is this allowed? Am I missing something?
Sports are crazy dangerous in general. Actually cheerleading has the highest injury rate of all sports, I think I read that somewhere.
Original poster
XelaM · 10/08/2021 18:48

@Polmuggle No, it's dead floor, no springs like gymnastics floor

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Original poster
XelaM · 10/08/2021 18:54

And for those of you who do/did gymnastics please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know no new dangerous tumbles would be learned on dead floor. Didn't a Bulgarian(? Maybe different nationality) Olympic-level gymnast recently get heavily criticised for practicing dangerous tricks on dead floor?

OP posts:
AtPanAtPan · 10/08/2021 18:55

I did Allstar cheer in the UK for 10 years, and although we are catching up to the USA now that it’s more popular, the USA cheer world is much more advanced. In the UK we don’t have sports scholarships, or a large number of teams that can put out the top skills like Navarro, but these are the types of teams covered in the Netflix series.

I wanted to post to reply to the comments about safety. It is a fundamental part of cheerleading to learn how to fall, catch and spot safely. A good coach will not let anyone who does not follow the safety expectations to cheer. However, due to the inherent nature of the sport, accidents do happen. Also, as it’s a drama show, it’s obviously useful to include some omg moments inc falls/injuries, and it does help to get across to people not familiar with cheerleading, that it is extremely athletic/skilled.

Some forms of cheer are done on a ‘dead’ floor, so the thick felt and foam over a classic sports hall floor (usually collegiate cheer) and some are done on a ‘sprung floor’ similar to that found in gymnastics. There are certain tumbling skills that are not permitted to be performed on a dead floor.

Original poster
XelaM · 10/08/2021 18:57

Certainly in figure skating even the most brutal coaches wouldn't get you just do quads for the first time on ice without first having extensively done it off ice/on a harness etc etc

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Original poster
XelaM · 10/08/2021 19:03

@AtPanAtPan Ah, thank you! The callousness/careless attitude of the coach in the series towards injuries made it look really extreme. For those who watched it, there was a guy who injured his back at a previous competition and the coach was mad that he got injured and continued making him practice catching flying girls leaving him in tears. How unsafe was that! Aside from aggravating his own back injury, he could have easily dropped one if the girls!

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SwanShaped · 10/08/2021 19:03

I loved the show. I’m guessing they don’t start off doing stunts like that though. They must work up to it. It was very impressive

AtPanAtPan · 10/08/2021 19:24

@XelaM yeah that wasn’t a great storyline and didn’t do justice to what really goes on behind the scenes in cheerleading. I’m fairly sure a producer will have over egged the pudding on that thinking it would add shock value (making me think of dance moms here)

Those in the cheerleading ‘industry’ had incredibly mixed views about the series. On the one hand it was amazing that people were now recognising that it is a sport, athletic, skilled, involves massive commitment etc, instead of thinking girls in skirts with pom-poms. However on the other hand it’s a very narrow, exaggerated, example of how cheerleading really is. But that’s what makes money and gets views.

I enjoyed the series as a whole, but there were bits that were romanticised or exaggerated

SwanShaped · 10/08/2021 19:34

How was it narrow and romanticised @AtPanAtPan?

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 10/08/2021 20:17

Omg I found it fascinating. Off to google where they are now.

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 10/08/2021 20:24

I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING ConfusedSad

Original poster
XelaM · 10/08/2021 20:35

@StrictlyAFemaleFemale Yes, was so shocked too when I read it! He seemed the nicest of them all.

Aside from the awful coach, some of the parents shown were absolutely disgusting. Poor Gabi Butler!

The show certainly didn't give me a nice warm feeling like Last Chance U for example.

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Yutes · 10/08/2021 20:41

I binged Cheer and then watched Dare Me right after. Just if you’re wanting (drama) viewing of the same line.

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