Cheer 2: Why Student Coach Kapena Kea Left Navarro

Kapena Kea was the student assistant coach for Navarro College, but he revealed on Cheer season 2 that he had to leave his position at Navarro. Kapena was a fan favorite among Cheer viewers as he always supported the entire Navarro team and gave them an energy boost during practices. As a result, many fans were sad to see him forced out of coaching for Navarro. He is still close to the rest of the team and coach Monica Aldama, but there’s a reason why Kapena left Navarro and what he is up to now.

Cheer season 2 follows Navarro and their rivals at Trinity Valley Community College as the two schools compete once again at the NCA Daytona Championship. Navarro had extra hurdles to overcome besides the canceled 2020 championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic as they learned of the shocking arrest of Jerry Harris. The cast also dealt with becoming overnight sensations that were suddenly in the public eye. All things considered, many fans cite all this pressure as the reason Navarro lost to TVCC in the Cheer season 2 finale.

One of the issues Navarro had was coach Monica leaving the school temporarily to compete in Dancing With The Stars – a move that divided both fans and the team. During her absence, some viewers thought that assistant coach Andy Cosferent would take over the routines for Navarro, but he ended up leaving to pursue other opportunities. Yet another cast change halfway through Cheer season 2 was the departure of Kapena.

In Cheer season 2 episode 4, Kapena revealed he was no longer coaching Navarro even though he still tried to keep in touch with most of the cheerleading team and its athletes. Kapena said that he was forced to leave the program after he made a mistake in the fall 2020 semester. The former student assistant coach said that there was a homecoming party at his house with a lot of Navarro alumni that included current cheer athletes. There was alcohol involved at the party, so having them there was a violation of Monica’s rules for any coach. Monica called Kapena one of her favorite people but added that she could not break the rules for him as they were in place for a reason.

Kapena took the news very hard after leaving the program and lost a lot of stability in his life. He also said that Monica was almost like a mother figure to him given that she mentored him at Navarro. However, there doesn’t seem to be any more hard feelings, as he recently posted a picture with Monica (seen above) and even called her “my queen.” The native Hawaiian now calls Los Angeles home and has been living his best life. As an actor, Kapena has been auditioning for theatrical and commercial roles, and Cheerfans are all hoping he gets his big break soon.

Source: Kapena Kea/Instagram

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