Netflix's documentary series Cheer, which landed on the platform by way of Last Chance U director Greg Whiteley, proved to be the world's first big obsession of 2020. Suddenly, everyone was giving each other "mat talk" and chanting "FIOFMU," regardless of whether or not they had pom-poms in their hands (or had even gotten off their couch). So many ingredients mixed together made the series the perfect, wholesome binge-watch, but a huge part of the appeal came from the music. Now the Navarro Cheer squad, who hail from Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas, is giving us a little something back. Teaming up with Spotify, and debuting exclusively here on Refinery29, they've put together a hefty playlist of tracks they're using this year to get themselves motivated during practice and take them all the way to Daytona.
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When it comes to the music used for their actual routines, Cheer star Morgan Simianer previously told Refinery29 that it's specifically customized for the team.
“We actually have Patrick [Avard] who does our music," she explained. "He will put together a mix with sound effects and everything for each section of our team and he'll edit it according to what we're doing."
But for this playlist, the songs come straight from the team members themselves.
"Every individual picked their favorite song—some are hip-hop, some EDM, some rap. Meanwhile, others picked slower songs," coaches Monica Aldama and Andy Cosferent told Spotify. "When we practice, we only listen to that playlist. We put it on shuffle, and no one is allowed to skip a song, because we want everybody to have the opportunity to listen to their favorite jam. Every individual has a different way of getting motivated, and I think each song, just like each team member, has something special."
Who knows — maybe listening to this playlist will motivate you enough to get your own cheerleading career started?
“I would say to never give up, keep working hard, and trust in everything because you never know what could happen," Simianer advised Refinery29, and all other cheerleading hopefuls.
Take a listen to the playlist below. We'll see the Navarro Cheer team at Daytona this April.