'Cheer Squad' Puts Great Coaches In The Spotlight

The young women on the Great White Sharks cheerleading team, profiled on Freeform series Cheer Squad, are able to accomplish feats of strength and athleticism during their impressive routines. And leading the team is the Great White Sharks' coach, Ali Moffatt, and Cheer Sport Sharks owner Alana Potter, who are the secret of the success of the championship-winning group. Since both women are champion cheerleading coaches, they're the experts guiding the audience through the world of competitive cheerleading. Think of Coach Ali as the Abby Lee Miller of Cheer Squad, but only in the sense that she's the person teaching the cheerleaders their routines and guiding them through competitions. As you'll see, Ali has a totally different coaching philosophy than the combative Dance Moms teacher.

All of the best sports figures and teams always have a great coach behind them, even if they don't get much of a spotlight. But Cheer Squad goes behind the scenes to show how the team puts together its jawdropping routines, and Coach Ali is a huge part of that, along with tons of talent and even more practice on the part of the young members of the squad, of course. Here's what you should know about both Cheer Squad Sharks.

Ali Is Right In Front Of The Camera

While both women own the Sharks together, it's Ali who spends more time in front of the camera and talking about how she's going to clinch another World Championship for the Sharks.

But Alana Is Right By The Students' Side

Even though she's camera shy compared to her costar, Alana is a devoted coach and cheer expert.

Ali Can Be Tough

As seen in the trailer released before the series' premiere, she's certainly not mincing her words about the team's screwup. So if something isn't going well, then you know that she's going to bring it up, and she won't be sugar-coating anything.

Alana's Family Is Excited For Her

Alana has two young kids who were excited to see her cheerleading gym on TV. This must be a huge change, to have a network as big as Freeform documenting the ins and outs of running a cheer gym.

Both Love Their Students

While Ali's toughness is displayed by the show, she's also a big softie at heart, softening up enough to offer her girls some emoji-laden compliments on Twitter.

They're Not Afraid To Use Cliches

After all, they are coaches — and have you ever met a sports coach who didn't measure commitment in 120 percent increments? Both Coach Ali and Alana Potter are the perfect complements for the scrappy young cheerleaders that we've watched them support on Cheer Squad this season.

Image: Jamie Christian/Freeform