The Journey of Nikki Jennings in Cheerleading
Nikki Jennings embarked on her cheerleading journey at the tender age of 4, showcasing her innate flexibility and small stature, which made her an ideal flyer—a human baton soaring and twisting through the air, skillfully caught by her teammates. However, her journey was not without its challenges; she suffered her first concussion in the third grade.
As a promising cheerleader, Jennings joined a highly competitive gym called Rockstar Cheer in Naples, Florida, at the age of 13. She quickly became the star pupil of her coach, Carlos Realpe, who recognized her potential but often pushed her beyond her limits. Practices frequently extended late into school nights, and when Jennings suffered a hamstring injury, Realpe insisted she take ibuprofen and continue training, threatening her position on the team if she didn’t comply. At times, his coaching style manifested in shouting matches and the throwing of objects during tense moments. While Realpe denies the allegations of throwing items, two fellow team members corroborated Jennings’s account. Despite complaints from other parents regarding Realpe’s methods, Jennings remained resolute in her commitment to the sport.
After moving to Georgia, Jennings’s new team achieved a significant milestone by winning the Cheerleading Worlds in 2019, catapulting her into the spotlight as a minor “cheerlebrity.” This newfound visibility allowed her to model uniforms and take photos with young fans eager to meet her. Her success opened doors, leading to a scholarship to cheer at the University of Hawaii. At Hawaii, Jennings found herself dedicating up to 50 hours a week to rigorous training, games, hair, makeup, and exhausting drills that followed any mistakes made during performances. She describes her coach, Mike Keolaokalani Baker, as emotionally harsh, particularly when the team underperformed. During this time, she began a side career in swimsuit modeling, and she once confided to a friend that Baker remarked her Instagram page looked like an audition for an OnlyFans account—a claim he denied. Baker stated that the team typically practiced for no more than 20 hours a week, although another cheerleader supported Jennings’s recollection of events.
During her junior year, Jennings faced a significant setback when she collided with a teammate’s shoulder during a basket toss, resulting in her snapping her head back and suffering yet another concussion—her seventh. Shortly after this incident, she fell ill due to an unrelated condition, which spiraled her into a state of depression. In a moment of disappointment, Baker sent her an email dismissing her from the squad. Fortunately, the athletic director intervened, ensuring she would not lose her scholarship.
At the age of 21, after enduring a chronic hip injury and experiencing occasional slurred speech along with intermittent headaches she referred to as “stingers,” Jennings decided to retire from cheerleading. This decision led her to seek treatment for a traumatic brain injury she had neglected during her time in the sport. It was only after stepping away from cheerleading that she began to piece together the troubling aspects of her career—recognizing that her experiences with injury, relentless training hours, and emotional turmoil were far from isolated incidents in the expansive world of American cheerleading. “Every day I make more and more pieces click,” she reflected.