Photos and video from the Jills and Alumni practice
Several Jills alumni warming up
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and around the NFL, players use pink cleats, gloves, and other items during a few special games each season. NFL Cheerleaders also do something special each year with pink pom-poms and sometimes even special uniforms. This year, the Buffalo Jills are going all out. As everyone who's been paying any attention to the Jills the past year knows, the squad put on the largest halftime show in the NFL outside of the Super Bowl with the aid of several dancers from Fusion Dance Studio, the Buffalo Bandettes, and several Buffalo Jills Alumni. For the next home game, against the Philadelphia Eagles on October 9th, the Buffalo Jills will welcome over 100 Buffalo Jills alumni to the field for a very special pregame performance. For that game last year, all the alumni involved cheered within the past decade or so. For this performance, Jills alumni of all ages have come in for this big performance. There are plenty of girls from recent years, including Katie K and Angelina who were with the squad only last season. But there are also plenty of ladies from before as well and I was told one Jills alumnus performing is in her 70s! Also, like last year's halftime performance, several Buffalo Jills Ambassadors will also be on the field performing as well. Sara and Courteney were no surprise at all nor were Miranda and Shannon. But also joining the dancers for this performance are Rebecca as well as Keisha and Laura, the captain and co-captain of the Buffalo Jills Ambassador Squad! That's not all, though. Stephanie Mateczun, who cheered on the Jills herself before becoming the director, is also part of this performance.
They've been practicing for a couple of weeks so far and to show off what they've learned to friends and family, the Jills invited family and close friends to see the first hour of Thursday night's practice. Husbands, children, and perhaps even some grandchildren got to see what their loved ones did before and will be doing in just over a week.
It was a major thrill for me as well. Besides the girls I know from very recently, there were several girls there from back when I first launched the Buffalo Jills Fan Club on Yahoo before they switched to a groups format and long before I launched the more professional-looking Buffalo Pro Cheer Blog.
Kristin B and Lynn (2008-09)
Julie P (1997-2002) with her son...Julie is perhaps the biggest reason I first launched the site
Kristina at the merchandise table while everyone was still checking in
Several Jills Alumni including Jena (2005) and Megan (2006) on the left
Julie P (1997-2002), Korinne (2004-06) and Nicole P (2004-09)
Keisha and Krystin among several alumni
Melissa, Allison (2002-05), Steph, Tina (2000-02), and Danielle (2002-03) among the alumni
1 comment:
Thanks Phil! I'm pretty sure this pic is the biggest smile you've ever captured of me.
Keep up the great work with the Jills!
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