Let's go see the bandshell. Come on, let's go. Come here. This way.
Is that Monica?
Is that Monica right there? You wanna go see her?
Nova! Hi, baby!
She got excited when she saw you in the office this morning.
Hi!
Monica, you seem relaxed.
Yeah.
I am for a minute until they go full-out.
I've been enjoying this moment of them being over there
and me not having the nerves, but soon as they come back,
I'm gonna start getting... hyperventilating.
♪ Throw it up ♪
I want that trophy.
♪ Now we in control ♪
♪ All the girls 'round the world One, two, three, let's go ♪
I want that trophy.
♪ Throw it up ♪
♪ I want that trophy ♪
Oh! Whoa!
♪ I want that trophy ♪
♪ Throw it up ♪
♪ I want that trophy ♪
♪ Yeah, bitch, I'm here to take that crown ♪
♪ Make you move it up and down ♪
♪ Pull up, pull out the tangerine dreams ♪
♪ We walk in and we flossy ♪
♪ Your B keep it bink and we bossy ♪
♪ Hey, it's like I told you song number one ♪
♪ Take the crown, shut it down 'Bout to steal the show ♪
♪ Shooting star I'm a boss, Marilyn Monroe ♪
♪ All the girls 'round the world Now we in control ♪
♪ All the girls 'round the world One, two, three, let's go ♪
♪ I want that trophy ♪
Dawgs!
- Good job! - Yay! Good job!
Yeah!
That was good!
That was so good!
- That was so good! - I said, "I know we're hitting now!"
That's the one! That's the one!
Let's go to Daytona now. I'm ready.
Ugh. Oh. There's glass and shit on this.
Bro, low-key, like, walk on it. It feels squishy.
Bro, I promise it don't feel squishy when you tumble on it.
On bandshell, it will.
Yeah.
All right, listen.
Listen up!
I know... I know we've been at practice a long time.
We just need to see some... some full-out choreography runs.
- So hard to see it when it's red. - See it?
Yeah. But still, the red on the red mat is just so tough to see.
Lightning keeps going out of space. He's going too far back.
Or Alexis isn't going far enough back.
But it's always the same.
- That punch, it still needs a lot of work. - Yeah.
DJ's so big. We got a lot of people going up here.
I hate that too.
She has to bend over to the side to miss Maddy,
but then her head is sticking out to the left of center.
Celieste, come here. Jada, come here. Jada.
Y'all kick isn't the same. We definitely need to work on that.
Make sure we put focus in that.
Three, five, seven, eight, one...
I feel like those aren't right.
Seven, eight, one, three, four, five.
- Back to three! - No...
Those are the same stands we just did.
We need them to clarify.
That's what I'm saying.
Is it seven or one?
Seven, eight, one. Yes.
That... that was a little too far forward, but what's up?
- I'm going right behind her! - No, Lee, go to your normal spot.
I'm catching her up to you.
You've been up far enough. She's just been further back.
- Okay. I hear what you're saying. - Do that again!
Five, seven, eight.
One, three, five, seven.
And I don't know. On a day like today
Things don't seem to be going well for us. I don't know what to say.
TVCC!
One more time!
They haven't posted competition times yet?
No. That's what I came looking for.
- A whole month of just nerves. - Yeah.
I don't have problems sleeping, but...
I will in Daytona.
That's not... That's not nervous. It's just...
It's... it's more of, I don't know, anticipation.
- Yeah. - I don't know how to describe it.
I want it to already be here so I can stop feeling like this every time I wake up.
I'm not worried about this routine.
Me neither. I'm not worried. I'm just... I want them to do their best.
Yeah, that's normal. And it's the worst part of coaching.
I had the same conversation with Monica in 2017.
We were standing behind the bandshell. She said, "Why do we do this?"
And I was like, "I don't know."
- This... - This...
And she's like, "This part, it's not fun."
She's like, "This whole month, you know, I can't eat."
And I was like, "I can't sleep." I was just like, "I get it. It's not fun."
There's nothing I can do to help them,
besides me coaching.
That's why I think I get so worried.
Okay. So the itinerary is almost ready.
We have to get the email tomorrow with our times for competition, but,
um, we have everything detailed out
from airline information, meet times,
um, practice times, curfew.
I mean, I feel ready. The team looks great. We've done...
So far we've done 31 full-outs and had 21 zeros.
- That's up there. 21 zeros. - 31 full-outs?
I feel like that's so little in comparison to years before.
It's not necessary. I think their bodies feel good. We don't wanna push too hard.
I can't believe they'd wanna do that.
Well, they didn't have a choice.
Yeah, I think that's all we need to do.
Oh my gosh. We're actually going. Finally, some real life.
Two years. Oh my gosh.
Two years... It's been two years since we've been.
That's crazy.
I wish I was competing.
Trinity Valley uniform.
Okay, special socks, hat, underwear, underwear, socks.
Now that, like, I'm packed up, I'm ready to go,
it's kind of surreal that I'm actually going to, like, fulfill my dream.
So I feel the anticipation just, like, sneaking up, but I'm ready for it.
Definitely.
Bro, after a leap year, we're going to Daytona again.
Right? Just a quick bump in the road.
Our vets who never got to compete at Daytona,
it's gonna be ten times more special because this is our second chance.
I wanna at least not have any regret.
Even if we don't come back with a win,
I wanna make sure that I feel like I put everything I had into it.
I'm nervous only because I can't do nothing more for them.
It's terrifying, but, you know, fulfilling at the same time,
because you know you worked your butt off to get to this point.
Exhale in three, two, one.
We were trying to make it through a pandemic.
We didn't know what each week was gonna bring us
as far as when we were gonna be able to practice
or if we were even gonna be able to practice.
Dear God...
But we did it. We made it through the storm.
There's only four people on mat this year who have even
- actually competed at Daytona. - Competed on the bandshell.
Our kids have been resilient this year
with all the changes that we've been going through.
I'm so proud of them for that.
We're super young.
I think we've only got three people on the team
that have been on the mat in Daytona.
They didn't get to go last year.
So they're eager and hungry for that opportunity to go out and shine,
and that's what makes it special.
This team's just got a lot of competitors on it
and they need to get out there and compete.
I want it so much for the team than I do for myself.
I want them to have that opportunity.
I want them to feel what it's like to run in the water and experience that.
We made it on the plane! There's a Gabriella!
Oh. Hi!
Hi, fellas. It's been a pleasure.
It's about doing something that you didn't think you could do.
Pushing yourself further than you thought you could.
It's not a piece of metal.
It's the feeling that you get.
Cheerleaders' ultimate dream is to win nationals,
to win College NCA Nationals.
You prepare your entire life, your entire career, for that one moment.
Daytona is something that even though it's only for a few days,
it just makes the entire year.
I've been working my whole life for this one cheerleading competition.
And I want to win.
When you don't do well, it just hurts so bad.
My goal was to come and never lose.
We got so close every time, but you gotta leave it out on the mat.
I think it's gonna be the toughest year for both teams
because how many eyes are gonna be on us
from everything that's happened in this last year.
Our major competitor was a very popular school for a long time.
They are now the most famous school on the planet.
It makes this one tough.
You never know what the judges are gonna think.
So it's always scary.
You know you have a certain level of skills that you need to do and execute.
And we work on those, and we work on the technique, so...
At the end of the day, that's all we can do.
No regrets.
Don't want this door shutting on me.
These are small.
They got a pool or what?
- I don't know. I need to take a shower. - I need to lay outside.
- Brush my teeth. - Oh. Same!
True!
All I'mma say is I woke up, the bus driver was driving through water.
I woke up and he was driving through water.
- Water. - So serious.
I hope next stop's gonna be nicer.
- We've been driving for 20 hours. - That's what I'm hoping.
- Hey, we leaving at, uh, 3:15. - Leaving for what?
We're going to practice.
His face!
We gonna do what?
Y'all really think we finna not practice?
You what?
Look! He's in time out!
- Yeah! - We're actually in...
Woo!
Oh my God!
Honey, I'm home!
It doesn't actually seem like it's been two years.
It seems like I was just here yesterday.
- It feels like an eternity for me. - Really? Oh my gosh.
We were on the plane and Cassadee and Gill were, like,
"You guys, we're going to Daytona." And I was like, "We're really going."
I'm sitting here looking at this bandshell
and it makes me so happy.
It takes away so, like... not so many nerves,
but you're just like, "Mmm. we prepared for this."
Yeah. Like just being able to practice on something like that for a week,
just a week, that's all we needed.
- All we needed. - It's intimidating.
That's intimidating. I feel like it can be intimidating.
I mean, one thing we definitely can say
is that we did all we could at home to prepare.
- We did all we could. - We did.
- Now it's just up to them to... - It's in their hands.
...pull through those two times.
I really hope no one blows it.
All right, guys. Welcome to today.
Um, obviously, I love the energy that we have going on.
Let's bring it to these practices.
Uh, I have not much really to say besides let's have fun and enjoy your time.
Soak it all in. Every moment here, just soak it in.
Thank you, alumni, for being here for this first practice.
It means so much to us as coaches, and it means a lot to the team.
Uh, so with that being said, anybody have any words of wisdom before we start?
Y'all, we've been doing the grind time all year for this moment.
We are in Daytona.
There's no more stress for this time, y'all.
Now it's our time to have fun. Let's go out there and kill it.
Let's shut everyone up that thinks it's an easy ring to go against us!
- Five, six, seven, eight! - Dear God!
Dear Father, thank you for bringing us here today, allowing us to get here safe.
Lord, I ask that you just watch over every person in this circle
and continue to keep this chain stronger.
Thank you so much for allowing us to have this... this family that we have.
Thank you so much. We're so happy and we're so blessed.
In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
Amen!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
Your 30 minutes starts now! Your 30 minutes starts now!
CCNC! Whoo!
Let's go!
Seven, eight, one, three, and five!
Seven, eight, one, three, five!
Look to your right.
Oh my God.
Seven, eight, one, three, four, five.
- You made it! Come here! - Hi!
Ohh.
Oh, Tiana! I didn't know you guys were coming.
Hi, sweetheart!
Thank you for being here.
- Thank you guys so much. - We couldn't miss it!
We wouldn't miss it for the world! Wouldn't miss it for anything!
- I love you, man. - Thanks, buddy.
I got you. I love you, brother. And I brought you a gift.
The big speaker.
Oh.
That's the reason we came!
Thank you so much.
- You're welcome. - Thank you. I know that. Thank you.
- You're not crying, are you? - I am. I really appreciate this.
You know. You know. Thank you.
We're family, man. You know that.
- Family's always together. - Not just words. We love you.
- We love you. - You're welcome.
- You're making me cry, man! - Me too!
Why is it so hot? My eyes are sweating.
I'm wearing sunglasses.
You're welcome. We're here for you.
Thank you, buddy.
Seven, eight, one, three, five!
Five, six, seven.
Nice! Three!
I don't know. I'm getting nervous.
Just the... just the general nerves. I'm just feeling nervous.
This year was so uncertain, so it's just crazy being back.
This is it. This is what it's gonna feel like.
I want y'all to take it all in.
All we have to do is do what we do at home.
- Right? - Yeah!
- All right. Let's go! - Let's get it!
Bring it in!
All right. So what we're gonna do, because you guys killed it in practice,
is we're gonna practice the walk to the bandshell,
so you guys know how far that walk is.
Come on, y'all! Let's go!
So excited!
Y'all, get in the shade.
So we were gonna go out here to check out the sun.
But at 12:30, that'll be the exact time that y'all are gonna compete tomorrow.
So the importance of doing that
is so you can see how the sun is gonna be hitting you in your face.
Okay?
All right, listen!
That's where the judges sit.
Blue tents.
The blue tents, that's where the judges are.
We compete up there.
So there's a distance there, so now you know how the face thing works.
All right?
Remember the practice we had where you picked out a judge,
made that judge your friend, made that judge fall in love with you?
Make him fall in love. 100 yards away. Let's go.
Hey, Terrell. How's the sun?
It's literally directly on your face.
I know, but, like, if you were in another world,
in your performance world, do you even realize there's sun out?
No. I don't know. No, no, no. I don't know. It's like the lights at NCA.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Okay.
Hey, y'all! Get your stuff! Let's go!
This is the entrance. This is where you guys go in.
It gets a little tight back there.
This is like the dark hallway that we would be in
when you guys would be getting ready right before you go on.
Remember we got that 30 seconds part that we practiced?
You guys got that. Once they call your name, 30 seconds to get set.
And that's what it is. Okay?
So our warm-up place is at that building right next to the grass where we were,
so we'll walk back there.
It's where we'll get our mat time,
but now you know the distance of that walk for when we got it tomorrow.
- You guys good? - Yeah!
- You guys ready? - Yeah!
All right. I'm ready.
So now you guys see what you can do tomorrow.
And our goal is just to go out there and... put pressure.
- Pressure. - Apply pressure!
Put pressure.
- And, and, and, and... - Do it.
When you... when you do it, you're going to apply pressure.
The whole place is gonna bust.
Apply the pressure
and let's have some fun.
- Yeah. - Yeah!
Listen. Let's get really serious for a minute because tomorrow's a big day.
I mean, the routine is incredible.
Y'all's warm-up was incredible today.
There's nothing else we need to do except make sure you hit that routine out there.
Do our jobs.
Do your job tomorrow, and I'm telling you, be checked-in.
And it's gonna happen through the good, the bad, the ugly,
because that's what we've practiced for.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
It's just like we're in Corsicana.
Because y'all worked so hard there,
y'all deserve to have fun here.
Yeah!
Hey!
Okay!
Hey! The man himself, the coach of the year,
the coa... the man in the Hall of Fame...
What all am I missing? Like, come on, coach.
We need the final word!
Yeah!
Give us that championship talk!
I am so proud of you.
It has been 727 days since we last won on the bandshell.
All right?
- I just got chills! - I just got chills!
I got 'em going down my leg right now.
You guys know this.
You are the standard bearer for cheer,
and all eyes will be on you for the next two days.
Relax, smile, have fun.
And you're getting ready to set the place on fire the next two days.
And we're gonna get number 15, correct?
- Fifteen! - Fifteen!
Hey!
Do Diedra's.
You never start on this side, Maddy.
Okay. Superstitions.
Leave me alone.
- Are you so ready? - Yes! Are y'all?
- I'm so pumped! - I'm ready! We're ready!
Prelims is 25% of your score.
Finals is 75%.
Prelims is always a little bit nerve-racking
because it's the first performance in front of judges.
So you definitely have the nerves,
and feel the stage, feel the atmosphere, you know.
You just need to get that under your belt.
Get your Black ass up, boy.
- Come on, bro! - It's time to go. It's go time.
Y'all ain't got what... 30 minutes before we out the door. Let's go.
Thirty minutes? Damn!
No goofin'.
I'm slick nervous.
Hey, bro. Hey...
I don't even get nervous for comps, usually.
It's a different ball game, ain't it?
Hey, girl.
What's up? I'm, like, tingly!
I know. It's nerve-racking on the other side.
I do miss it.
I miss cheer and I miss, like, being with everybody,
but it's a feeling you get when you're at Daytona,
that, like, you just know, you're like, "Okay, this is it."
And it just, like, something just comes over you and you just...
everything's just different.
Hey!
Whatever you believe, whatever you say, whatever you think is what's gonna happen.
How you feeling?
- Hmm? - Feeling better?
Yeah, I'm chillin'. I'll be straight.
I know you'll be straight, but I need you to punch back.
- Oh, I am. - I know.
But I want it to be the best punch back ever to be on that damn floor.
I got you.
Feel it out. Don't overdo it.
Yeah.
All right! Y'all, listen up!
Try and scoot...
Just be ready.
We've done it on a bandshell.
We've done it outside, we've done it in the sun,
we've done it in the cold, we've done it in the wind.
We've done it in every circumstance you can have. Right?
Hot, cold, windy, it doesn't matter.
And you still come out on top every single time.
It's that easy for y'all.
It's just muscle memory.
We're gonna go out there and kick some butt on the bandshell. Right?
Yeah!
Whoo!
All right!
Let's get it! Let's go!
No sleep! No sleep!
Let's go!
- Let it go! - Let's go!
It's time to get disrespectful. It's time to get disrespectful.
- Let's go! Let's go! - Come on!
I see some lights!
It's about time to get disrespectful!
There is nothing that can stop you.
So be confident, live in this routine,
live in the moment, and literally just perform.
This is everything we want.
I can't stop saying it 'cause I'm in awe that we're actually here.
So take it all in, embrace it, and just literally have fun.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
This is all we've wanted. We made it. I can't stop saying it.
On deck will be Trinity Valley Community College!
Up next in our advanced large co-ed junior college division,
from Corsicana, Texas, Navarro College!
NC! NC! NC!
NC! NC!
- Let's go! - Let's go!
- This is it right now!
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight!
Ooh! Ah!
Yeah! Go!
Let's go!
Let's go, baby! You got it! Hey!
Let's go, baby! Push! Push!
That was Navarro College!
Come on!
Let's go!
Nailed it! Nailed it!
- Whoo! - So awesome!
- Yeah! - So good!
Yeah!
Honey!
I did it!
Yes, you did!
Yeah!
That was something different.
- On a whole other level, baby! - Oh my God. That was different.
- Monica, did we do the damn thing? - Yes, you did the damn thing!
Maddy!
That was so good!
Y'all did it. Y'all did.
Oh, my God. Y'all killed that! Y'all killed it!
Yes!
- Oh, my God! - I did it!
Gill just killed it!
Gilli-bean!
You were so awesome, Gilli-bean!
Oh, my God. It was so good. I just...
Before we leave, also I am so proud of y'all and I love y'all to death,
but, hey, let's not be cocky.
Okay? Let's stay humble. You know, we still have tomorrow.
I just want to say that before we walk away,
but I'm so proud of y'all. So good!
Here we go! R-I-P that...
Hey! Hey!
That's how you win the day, baby!
Yeah!
Listen, we got one thing to do.
I have no doubt in my mind. I have no nerves at all.
If you have nerves, give 'em to me. 'Cause I'll throw 'em away.
We are all CCFC here.
I put on CCFC that I believe that we are going to hit a zero.
And that's all that matters is zero.
Not the ring. Not the win. None of that. Zero.
Right!
We've been working at hitting this fucking routine zero...
almost every practice!
None of... All those mistakes back there was meant to happen back there.
That's where you make mistakes.
That's where you piece things together and perform it to your best ability here.
Everything will matter here. Everything.
I know you might be nervous, but this is actually the funnest thing,
best experience, made me love this more than any All Star team,
anything I've ever been on.
So do it with your heart.
You guys got everybody around you. That's what matters. Okay?
Not just our people too.
We got our family that came here before us out here,
just wanting us to succeed.
That's all we gotta go out there and do is just do our best.
Have fun with that routine, because fuck them!
- Let's go. - Let's go!
Let's go, Vontae!
Y'all got this!
They better hit the stunts.
- They hit the stunts, we good. - Huh?
If they hit the stunts, we good. They're gonna kill it. Yeah.
You excited, huh?
I can't sit still.
I know I'm excited!
- I can't sit still. - I'm nervous.
- No. Don't be nervous. - I'm nervous.
Up next in our advanced large co-ed junior college division,
from Athens, Texas,
let's hear it for Trinity Valley Community College!
CCFC!
Whoo!
The music is on!
♪ Yes, we can work it ♪
Yeah! Yeah!
♪ Let's see how many tricks they really know ♪
♪ Where my Valley at? Bring that fire back ♪
Whoo!
Go! Go! Go! Yeah!
♪ Birds of a feather Always flock together ♪
♪ This is for the Valley And the ones who doubted us ♪
Oh!
Fuck!
♪ Tell 'em who you do it for ♪
♪ CCFC ♪
♪ Bring that 12 back home ♪
♪ It's time we soared high ♪
Oh!
Fuck!
That was Trinity Valley Community College!
Hey! Smile! Do not show anything on your face! Smile!
Have a Gatorade, guys! Grab a Gatorade!
Good job, y'all!
The Gatorade's for you guys if you want it.
If you want it, grab a Gatorade!
Don't worry about it. Let it go. We still got another day.
Good job.
I don't give a fuck what we just did!
Keep your heads up! We're still champions!
Yes. Let's go.
That does not define us. That's only one day.
- Let's go. - We're good!
Let it go. Turn it around. Turn your face around!
Didn't do anything wrong, did you?
Dee was in my way! I told you...
Let it go!
Let it go! How many times did that happen?
How many times did that happen? How many?
Then why you screaming at me? You know better than that!
Let it go! It will not happen again!
Let it go!
It is okay.
- Turn it around. It won't happen tomorrow. - Yes, sir.
It's all right, chins up! We're still representing the Valley!
Fast! It's okay!
Nobody was perfect!
All right. Let's go!
Where's Dee?
Don't show it, bro. What can you do about it now?
Not a damn thing. Nothing.
Nothing you can do about it now. Just be mad?
- I can't do nothing about it. - Exactly.
So what can you do about it tomorrow?
Do better?
Yeah.
It's too late for all that.
I get it. You don't wanna walk around being that guy.
I know it, but guess what? Don't be that guy tomorrow.
That's the routine everybody's gonna see.
That's the routine that's gonna be going around, tomorrow's routine.
- Come on. Bring it in. Do I look upset? - No!
- Do I look like I'm pissed and mad? - No!
Who's the first person to get pissed and mad when something goes wrong?
- You are! - Me, right?
So what are you doing it for?
There's nothing you can do about anything that's happened.
We gonna make it up tomorrow. That's all you can do.
You're holding your heads down like that won't score
higher than 95% of this competition. It still will.
Let it go. There's nothing we can do about what's happened.
If you let your personality come out and turn crap,
the rest of the team goes to crap.
Let it go. If I'm telling you to let it go, you need to let it go.
And be a family, because there's nothing you can do about it.
Stay together, because we've overcome way worse odds.
We've been here for three years, okay?
I get emotional thinking about leaving you guys,
not because of what we did.
Okay? Sorry, fuck.
I didn't do perfect either.
I fucked up motions. I was rushing things.
Like, it is okay. Nobody's perfect.
And all of us are still extremely talented athletes. Okay?
We came from all over the world and the reason people are so upset
is because they are not used to fucking up.
This builds character. This teaches you something.
I don't give a fuck about what the outcome is.
We know what we can do, we know what we've done,
we know how much work we put in.
Okay?
We are okay. We are okay.
This routine we did today was only 25%.
Tomorrow, we're gonna be flawless.
Tomorrow, you're gonna let go of today and throw that shit away.
It's okay.
If you're upset about something, hold it in, hold it in,
and let it out tomorrow when you go out on that floor.
Let it out tomorrow.
Let it out tomorrow when you run in the water,
but don't let it eat you up.
There's nothing it can do to you now.
Let it go.
I'm letting it go.
♪ I'm never gonna cry again ♪
♪ I'm never gonna die again ♪
♪ I shed some tears for you ♪
♪ I shed more tears For you than the ocean ♪
♪ The ocean ♪
♪ I didn't want to let you know ♪
♪ I didn't want to take your time ♪
♪ I didn't want to bring you down ♪
♪ I didn't want to hang around you ♪
♪ Around you ♪
♪ So we're living in desperate times ♪
♪ Oh, such an unfortunate time ♪