A huge change is coming to the Golden Girls this upcoming year; the program has finally created a JV team for underclassmen.

Ideally, a JV team prepares promising athletes for the level of varsity without having to cut them from the program; the Golden Girls would be able to include more students and make sure that everyone at the varsity level had the right skill set. Also, a second Golden Girls squad would allow for the teams to perform at more games.

Mehlville has had two levels of the Pantherettes for several years, and the idea seemed to be a good one in the eyes of the coaches at OHS. The dancers, too, applaud the move.

“I think JV is a really good idea,” said Abby Metz (11). “It’ll teach them how a dance team works and they’ll learn a lot.”

Before tryouts, girls had to specify for which team they were auditioning. At the end of the week, twelve girls were chosen for varsity and six girls were chosen for JV. Though this seemed like a small number to some, the dancers were reminded that over the next few years they would be losing many seniors and would therefore need younger dancers to be ready to step up and take their places.

“It’s definitely going to be different,” said Kristine Pickens (11), “but I think it will be good.”