Angel Rice Is the "Simone Biles of Cheerleading"

Published on 1/13/2022 at 4:30 PM

During season two of Netflix's Cheer, Angel Rice joined Trinity Valley Community College's (TVCC) cheer team. TVCC and Navarro are rivals on the Daytona Beach Bandshell, and Rice's abilities as a dynamic tumbler — and that of other TVCC "rookie" tumblers at the time — gave Trinity Valley's cheer program, they argued, unmatched talent.

Rice, from Georgia, started with TVCC Cheer at the top of the 2020-2021 season, and she has a list of accolades in the cheer world and the sport of power tumbling. As one TVCC recruit says in the show, "She's like the Madonna of cheerleading" (her mom also calls her the "Simone Biles of cheerleading"). Ahead, get to know more about this flipping queen.

Angel Rice Set a Guinness World Record in Tumbling in 2015

Rice set the record for most double fulls in a minute when she was 16 years old — and she did it on live TV! Her total tally of 10 has since been broken by cheerleader Marquez Arnold — his record is 15 — but Rice still made her mark!

Angel Rice's Brother Is Also on TVCC Cheer

Rice's brother, Jaden ("Jaymo"), is a tumbler on TVCC's cheer team as well. "Jaymo's a great athlete. He's coachable," head coach Vontae Johnson says in episode six of Cheer's second season. "He works his butt off, and he's the one to ask, you know, 'How did that one look? What could I do better?' When he knows that I want something done, he gets it done."

Rice says in the show, "It's actually kinda funny having my brother on the same team as me because I watched him grow from a baby till now . . . " She noted that Jaden has immense talent (which says a lot coming from her).

Angel Rice Started Tumbling at 3 Years Old

According to NBC News, Rice's mom, Tonya, was the one to teach her tumbling at the age of 3. Rice began competitive cheerleading by the time she was 5, once Tonya started working at the gym Jams Athletics.

Angel Rice Is a Decorated All-Star Cheerleader

Rice is a four-time world champion in cheerleading, and she's been on All-Star teams such as the California All Stars, Stingrays, and Rockstar Cheer Beatles.

Angel Rice Briefly Retired From Cheerleading in 2018

According to FloCheer, Rice retired in 2018 to focus on power tumbling. However, she made her return later that year with Rockstar Cheer. "The decision to return to cheer wasn't tough at all. I've been doing it all of my life so it's really going back to the familiar. I love cheering," Rice said at the time.

Angel Rice Has Competed Internationally and Nationally in Tumbling

Rice is an alumna of FlipCity South (as are Jaden and TVCC's DeVonte "Dee" Joseph), and she also grew up in the competitive sport of power tumbling, a gymnastics discipline that is not yet recognized by the Olympics but holds meets internationally for the highest-level tumblers. You know the tumbling passes in floor routines that artistic gymnasts like Jordan Chiles do? Power tumblers do flips without the routine and music; they tumble down a long floor called a track.

Rice competed nationally and internationally beginning in 2013, according to USA Gymnastics. Her last tumbling competition that USA Gymnastics has on record was the 2018 USA Gymnastics Championships, where she finished fourth. This video in particular is from the 2017 Winter Classic, where Rice came in third. Notably, she made the 2018-19 trampoline and tumbling senior national team.