Collin Street Bakery Stars in Netflix’s Newest Docuseries CHEER
Corsicana is Famous for Fruitcake & Cheerleading
We all know Corsicana, Texas is famous for Collin Street Bakery and our globally-celebrated DeLuxe® Fruitcake. But did you also know Corsicana is the home to the nationally-recognized Navarro College Cheer Team? With fourteen NCA National Championships and five Grand National Championships under their belts, Navarro College is considered to have one of the best junior college cheer programs.
Like Collin Street Bakery, Navarro College’s cheer program was not grown overnight. For the past 24 years, Head Coach Monica Aldama has worked tirelessly to bring Navarro College Cheer into the national spotlight.
Source: Netflix®
A Corsicana native, Aldama graduated from Corsicana High School before attending the University of Texas at Austin where she completed both her BBA in Finance and MBA. In the docuseries, she confesses it wasn’t initially her ambition to return to her hometown. She always pictured herself as a jet-setting, big-city businesswoman; however, when the Head Cheer Coach position opened at Navarro College, she went out on a limb and applied. She was offered the job and the rest has gone down in cheer history.
“...a winning portrait of young men and women coping with tragedies, banding together as a clan, and meeting intense expectations to reach the pinnacle of their highly competitive field.”
Notoriously known for her tenacious work ethic and unwavering standards of perfection, Aldama has turned the program into the cheer gold standard. Having earned the nickname “The Queen,” Aldama is considered an icon not only in Navarro County but in the cheer industry as a whole.
Source: Netflix®
What's It All About
The Netflix docuseries follows Coach Aldama and the Navarro College Cheer Squad as they relentlessly pursue yet another national title. The series has been acclaimed as, “a winning portrait of young men and women coping with tragedies, banding together as a clan, and meeting intense expectations to reach the pinnacle of their highly competitive field.” This isn’t your typical cheerleading story.
”We only compete once for two minutes and fifteen seconds in Daytona... You work so hard for a moment.”
Unlike what sitcoms portray, it’s not all about the face glitter and hair bows. Concussions, shin splints, bruised ribs, sprained ankles, and broken bones are not only potential byproducts of the sport but a statistically overwhelming and brutally accepted probability. Expectations and tensions run high as the overwhelming pressure to live up to the program’s immense legacy boils down to a single routine. As one cheer member states,
Source: Netflix®
The series, however, doesn’t only stick to the life inside the gym. Watch as the cameras follow these athletes out into the real world, capturing the struggles and heartaches provoked by the complex family and social dynamics of small-town life. Turns out, those beaming smiles gazing up from the mat can be misleading.
However, hand in hand with the show’s high-stakes drama comes the heartwarming inspiration of watching someone discover their passion and a group of people with whom to share it. Hard work, discipline, acceptance, and friendship are consistent themes throughout the show’s six-episode run.
Source: Netflix®
When You're Watching, Keep An Eye Out!
If you haven’t yet binged the series, we strongly recommend this be the next show in your queue. While watching, keep an eye out for guest appearances made by Collin Street Bakery’s very own Hayden Crawford. The show takes the time to fully portray life in Navarro County which would not be complete without mentioning our Bakery’s world-famous DeLuxe® Fruitcake.
