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'She trusts me with her entire life': Father-daughter duo gets noticed by 'Cheer' coach for high-flying stunts

The future of Navarro College Cheer, with more than a dozen championships to its name, is looking bright thanks to a pint-sized North Texas girl and her dad.

Navarro College Cheer, the award-winning cheerleading squad with more than a dozen championships to its name, also racked up six Emmy nominations Tuesday for its wildly popular docu-series on Netflix.  

And, thanks to another high-flying internet sensation, the program's future looks pretty bright too.

Her name is Jayden Pollard. And her cheer stunt videos on social media with her dad Roland have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. Jayden is 4 years old.

"After quarantine happened we just stunted all day every day at home and she learned more and more skills," Rolland Pollard said, from their home in Savannah in Denton County. "She loves it!"

Roland and his wife Stephanie were cheerleaders and gymnasts. Roland has been a coach for nearly a decade and now produces music and voice tracks for cheer teams worldwide. 

So, when Jayden was born, the love for being lifted in the air started early. 

"I've always been used to him just having her in the air. He's also put me in the air before," said Stephanie. "So, I trust him with a quarter of my weight."

Credit: The Pollard Family
The Pollard family even used a cheer stunt to announce their squad was growing to four.

And early this year the daddy-daughter duo began to soar in popularity on social media. With combined views well into the millions, Instagrammers tuned in for Jayden and Roland's next tricks.  

And someone else was watching too.

"And I absolutely fell in love with her," said Monica Aldama with Navarro College Cheer in Corsicana. 

As Aldama fielded phone calls and interviews Tuesday to congratulate here on the six Emmy nominations the Netflix docu-series received, she also agreed to an interview solely about Jayden. 

RELATED: The internet can't stop talking about 'Cheer,' a new Netflix docuseries shot in Texas

She has sent Jayden two Navarro uniforms so far and issued an open invitation for the 4-year-old to join the squad -- a decade or so from now. Aldama had also planned to offer Jayden a cheer role on the sidelines of Navarro College spring sports, had the pandemic not put the season on hold. 

"As soon as I saw her, I thought she was adorable. I thought she was incredible. Just so talented," said Aldama. "These are lifetime memories. This is something she will cherish for the rest of her life. 

"It's just such a special bond," she said of the father-daughter relationship. "I think it's incredible." 

And that bond, is what this Roland Pollard cherishes most.

"She loves whatever I'm doing. Our bond is just so close. She trusts me with her entire life. And that's the coolest part. She knows that I would never harm her or I would never let her get hurt," he said.

"And if she decides she wants to pursue tennis or whatever, I'm just going to fully support that. I'm not going to force her to do cheer. But if she does decide to do cheerleading she has all the resources in the world to be the best cheerleader ever. Isn't that right," he said while holding Jayden as the little girl started to laugh.

But for the moment they are an internet sensation, a family of three from north Texas soon to be a family of four. Jayden helped with that social media announcement too. While Roland and Stephanie embraced in a photo, Roland held Jayden aloft with one hand, Jayden holding the sonogram photos of her brother due to arrive in November. 

"And I cannot wait for my son to be here," Roland Pollard said. "That's going to be a blast!"

No doubt - with more high flying videos to come.

RELATED: Check out Roland's Instagram for more stunts

    

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