By Amelia Trapp – Staff Reporter

With the start of a new school year comes the start of a new cheerleading season at Jonathan Law.

Law’s cheerleading team has high expectations for this year.

“Everyone is improving on their skills so we can be better in the future,” senior captain Brianna Whitlock said.

Head coach Bonnie Etense says the team is off to a great start to the season and that she is confident they will do well overall. The team has many goals for this upcoming year.

Etense has been the head coach of the Jonathan Law cheerleading team for the past nine years. Previously, she was the coach for a varsity cheerleading team in Long Island and at Southern Connecticut State University.

Etense along with the rest of the team are preparing for the rest of the season. Sophomore Katelyn Griffen said her goals for the season are to have fun and qualify for states.

Recently the cheerleading team preformed in a school-wide fall sports pep rally in the new gym. The team performed their halftime routine which they also present during football games.

The cheerleading team attends every football game and perform cheers to liven up the crowd. The team has a football game every Friday.

The team practices every Tuesday and Friday.

“Practices are lots of work, and not all days are good, but I know that in the end it will be worth it,” junior captain Stella Patrick said. “You never know how a practice will go, some days you can’t do anything right, others everything goes perfect.”

The cheerleading team is in season from fall to winter, unlike most sports. In the fall, they cheer for football, while in winter they cheer for basketball.

During the winter, the team is in competition season. The team has an average of three to four competitions per year.

Although the team has the same practice schedule, they must learn a new routine for competition. The team competes the same routine each competition.

The routine lasts a total of two minutes and 30 seconds. The routine is a mixture of dance, stunts, and tumbling.