The dance team tryouts for the West Shore Purrfections 2015-2016 season are being held in the school Gymnasium on March 16, 17 and 20.

“It’s always exciting to see any new people that tryout and to find out the teams Coach April has decided for next year. We are losing 3 of our best varsity dancers but I know that we will gain three new dancers with fresh talent,” sophomore varsity member Katelyn Kent said.

The six junior dancers Ashley Norris, Hannah Montgomery, Mattie Shaw, Megan Ward, Kristina Youngson and Devin Dolnik — known as “the sassy six” — are having their own mini tryout to determine which of them will be officers for the upcoming season. Each junior was required to submit an essay explaining what would make them a valuable captain and each had to teach a segment of a dance to the team for their teaching skills to be assessed.

“For my essay, I wrote about the qualities of a good leader, specifically the ability to motivate a team and leadership experience, and how I have them. I want to be captain because I want to help make the Purrfections the best team we can possibly be,” Montgomery said. “I’ve been on the team since freshman year, and I hope to motivate us and push us to our goals and beyond.”

The purrfections have been hosting tryouts since 2007 and are working on building their middle school, junior varsity and varsity teams to compensate for the loss of their three talented senior captains this year.