New York Magazine - 02.03.2020

Photographs byHANNAH WHITAKER

MOTIVATE ME

I Want This

Cheer Coach to

Run My Life

ByAnna Silman

like many people,I have

become engrossed inCheer,

Netflix’s new docuseries about

the superstar squad at Navarro

College. But mostly I have become

enthralled by one character, a

real-life legend who makesFriday

Night Lights’ Coach Taylor look like

a rec-league zhlub: Coach Monica

Aldama, the Bill Belichick of

cheerleading with perfect square

French tips. “If you’re not giving

your best, you’re going to have a

problem with Monica,” her husband

says with a haunted look in his eyes.

“She doesn’t put up with weakness.”

Clearly, her tactics work, because

Monica’s kids would do anything

for her. As one of her cheerleaders

says when Monica asks her to try an

incredibly dangerous toss for the

first time, “People have broken their

necks doing this, but Monica needs

me to do it, so I’ll just do it ... I would

take a bullet for her.” Frankly, same.

If only I had a Monica to run my

life. I can imagine how much better

I would be at pretty much

everything. Maybe I wouldn’t have

given up piano after four lessons.

Maybe I would be able to run more

than half a mile without my

internal organs breaking down.

I would certainly work out and floss

and remember to make my bed

every morning, because, as Monica

says, “How can you expect to be

successful if you don’t organize your

life?” Some days, I wish Monica

could stand next to me while

I write, looking disapprovingly

down at her bejeweled Apple Watch

as I struggle to craft a paragraph

that will earn her respect. Do you

think she’d care that I was out

drinking last night and have a

hangover and am struggling to put

together a strong closing sentence?

No, she would not. I may not know

much about cheerleading, but

I know Monica would scream at me

to be the best version of myself, and

personally, that’s all I want. If I have

to tumble out of my desk chair

and break my neck to achieve

greatness, so be it.

›

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PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF NETFLIX (CHEER)

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