MASSENA -- The newly formed Lady Vipers dance team will perform during home games for the Seaway Valley Venom beginning this year.

The Lady Vipers will performing at halftime of home and will also be available for appearances at local events such as parades and other community functions.

"When you look at it our football team gives those in the area who are 18 and up the chance to continue to play football at a high level...and so we wanted to do the same thing for women in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties who wanted to get into or continue their dance experience," Venom team owner Elijah Winfrey said.

The Empire Football League, which includes the Venom, has two teams that have permanent dance teams already. They are the Sussex Stags and Syracuse Strong. The Plattsburgh North Stars team occasionally has a dance team.

"After last season I thought about what we could do to liven up the home game experience for the fans and also help spread the word about our team,” Winfrey said. “After making a couple of phone calls to other teams that had dance teams I was encouraged by the Stags Gary Haase to start my own after the success he had with their program. I want to thank Gary for the encouragement."

The Lady Vipers will be coached by Carmela Phelix, Andrea Post, and Kayla Labier. Phelix and Post are credited with the creation of Massena's Youth Cheerleading Group and Labier has been a Zumba instructor for the past two years.

"I thought it would be important to find local people who had a passion for both dance and cheer since this team is kind of an infusion of both of those things. We also wanted people who know how to build something from the ground up and I'm very happy with the hires we have made," Winfrey said.

The Lady Vipers are taking signups for women 18 and older for the 2017 season and the cost to reserve a spot is $20. Practices for the Lady Vipers will be Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. More information on the location and start date of practices will be released soon. Dance and cheer experience is not required.

To sign up to be on the Dance Team send a message to their Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/GoVenom/ or call 315-296-6407.