In the spring of 2010, the time came for Jills tryouts once more. On one hand, it's exciting to see all the new young ladies trying out to join several veterans. But on the other, it also meant several vets wouldn't be returning which is always sad, whether it was by choice or not. One change in 2010 was that only the main dance captains were named before tryouts so Omarlla, Christina, and Eileen were on their own helping Kelli to teach the routine to everyone that day. Keisha and Amanda had already been named captain and co-captain of the Ambassador Squad, however.
We held the workshop back up at the Conference Center of Niagara Falls and I was one of the 1st to arrive to help set up. It wasn't long before all the captains and team management were there, as well some more people there to help out, including Heather, who had chosen not to return for a second season. As I recall, she was on the fence about it as recently as the Jills comedy show. By the time we had everything set up, vets and prospective rookies alike started arriving. Among the first to arrive was Brianne, an alum who had spent the 2007-09 seasons on the squad but left during 2008 tryouts due to illness. In addition to Brianne returning, we also had a few ambassadors trying out for dance, including Kristen and Nicole, breaking up the Three Musketeers, so to speak.
Gabrielle, Kristen, and Nicole
In all, we had about 85-90 girls showing up to try out in 2010 and we got to meet a few of the prospective rookies, including some who wound up making the squad. Included among those were Gina, introduced to us by Alyssa B, and Natalie, who was doing a daily blog of the tryout process for BuffaloBills.com
incoming rookie Gina with Alyssa
Dance captains Omarlla, Christina, and Eileen off to the side
Jills coordinator Nichole B going over some of what everyone needs to know
Once everyone arrived, we started out with an information session in which squad management went over the format of tryouts and delved into the rules and regulations of what was expected of a young lady who became a Buffalo Jill. With the size of the group and the size of the room, they went over it all once with everyone before excusing the ambassador hopefuls and getting things going with the dancers. The previous season was the 1st one in a long time that the 1st round of tryouts were open to the public and one thing that was brought up was how the same music was played over and over again throughout the day. With that in mind, and due to the fact that, during the season, they'll be dancing a routine on the sidelines to many songs the same way, Jills choreographer Kelli Wagner made a big change. Instead of trying out to one song, Kelli put together 3 different remixes for everyone to learn and practice to. Kelli and the captains taught the dance moves without music at first but then went over them again to music, changing up the songs each time to keep everyone on their toes and to get them used to learning to all 3 songs.
Heather, retired after a season, selling workout gear
rookie hopeful Natalie
You can see all the pics at https://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/1607
From the Bandettes comes a photo from before the April game against the Vancouver Stealth when the Bandettes were selling autographed lacrosse balls to raise funds for the organization. Shown posing for the camera are MaKenzie, Janelle, and Jennifer. Happily, all three of these ladies will be back in action for the Bandettes in 2016!
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