Monica Aldama facts for kids

Monica Aldama, born on February 9, 1972, is a famous American cheerleading coach. She used to coach the co-ed cheerleading team at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas. This team became very well-known under her guidance.

Monica's School Days

Monica Aldama went to Corsicana High School. After that, she joined Tyler Junior College and became part of their cheerleading team. She then moved to the University of Texas at Austin. There, she earned a degree in Business Administration, focusing on Finance. She was also a member of the Zeta Tau Alpha women's group. Later, she earned a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Tyler.

Amazing Coaching Achievements

Under Monica Aldama's leadership, the Navarro College Bulldogs cheerleading team became super famous. They were known for being excellent at cheerleading. Since the year 2000, her teams have won many big competitions.

National Championships

• They won 16 NCA National Championships. These were in the Advanced Large Coed Junior College division.
• They also won 1 National Championship in the Game Day Open division.
• Her teams earned "Grand National" titles 6 times. This means they had the highest score overall in those competitions.

Monica Aldama's team also holds the record for the highest score ever at the NCA College Nationals. People have called her cheerleading program a "dynasty" because of how successful it is. Her athletes even call her the "Queen." Monica Aldama has appeared on popular TV shows like The Ellen DeGenerer Show and Oprah's live tour.

Starring in Cheer

In 2020, Monica Aldama was featured in a Netflix docuseries called Cheer. This show focused on the 2019 Navarro College co-ed cheerleading team. It helped many people learn about the sport of cheerleading.

About the Show

Cheer was directed by documentarian Greg Whiteley. He was also known for his football documentary Last Chance U. Both shows follow college athletes who face challenges like injuries and personal problems. Cheer highlights Monica Aldama's role as a mentor. She is usually very supportive. However, when her athletes got injured, she had to make tough choices. These decisions were always to help the team win the national championship in Daytona Beach, Florida.

What People Thought

Critics had different views on how Monica Aldama was shown. Hank Stuever from the Washington Post said her dedication was "fierce (and occasionally fearsome)." Jia Tolentino from The New Yorker wrote that Aldama "rules the program with a fearsomely controlled demeanor interrupted by flickers of maternal warmth." The series showed that Monica Aldama always aimed for perfection. Her famous saying about practice was: "You keep going until you get it right, then you keep going until you can't get it wrong."

Dancing with the Stars

On September 2, 2020, it was announced that Monica Aldama would be on Dancing with the Stars. She competed in the 29th season of the show. She was partnered with Val Chmerkovskiy. They were eliminated in the 7th week of the competition, finishing in 10th place.

Monica's Family Life

Monica Aldama's son-in-law is Trevor Denbow. He is an American football safety who plays for the Indianapolis Colts.

See also

In Spanish: Monica Aldama para niños