Are Netflix cameras heading back to Corsicana, Texas? Coach Monica Aldama weighed in on the possibility of Cheer season 2 after revealing that fan-favorites from the series still have eligibility at Navarro College.
“We don’t follow your typical NCAA rules like the other sports. But for NCA, which is the company that we compete with for competition, you have five years of eligibility and three of those can be at a junior college,” Monica, 49, told Us Weekly exclusively.
While the coach told Us that “most” of her cheerleaders use two of their years of eligibility at Navarro, the Texas junior college profiled by Netflix, some of them stay for a third year.
“A lot of them will go on to universities that are still competitive, because not all schools compete,” she said. “So I have a lot that go to Texas Tech University, the University of Louisville, Oklahoma State, Sam Houston, University of Kentucky. Most of them definitely continue on at a university that does competitive cheer.”
Cheer, which dropped on Netflix earlier this month, followed Navarro’s 2019 squad’s journey to the NCA College Nationals in Daytona. Standout cast members included Jerry Harris, Lexi Brumback, Gabi Butler, La’Darius Marshall, Morgan Simianer and Mackenzie “Sherbs” Sherburn. While Lexi was cut from the cheer program after she was caught with illegal substances during the season 1 finale, Monica confirmed to Us that she is back at Navarro.
“Yes, Lexi is back. So her coach reached out to me and her mom and her grandmother, everyone wanted her back at Navarro, of course,” she explained. “I even said at the end of the series that I felt like that I still needed some time with her because she was doing so well. She did get into a bit of a trouble and that was all dropped. She did have to sit out in the fall semester and I felt like she had enough time to reflect on it and learn from it. She’s doing great and she’s really happy to be back here, and I can’t wait to see where she goes from here.”
Jerry, for his part, spent one semester at another school, but returned to Navarro last month to use his final year of eligibility at a junior college. La’Darius and Morgan confirmed via social media that they opted to do the same.
“We don’t really know anything about [season 2] right now,” Monica told Us. “So we’re just excited to be here right now and have season 1 and just the love and support of season 1. So, we’ll see.”
Scroll through for more from Monica — including how she feels about critics who think she is too tough of a coach: