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| Jessica and Sarah |
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| Angelina and Vincenza |
This week, we take a look at 4th year vet Jessica H as our Bandette of The Week. The reigning NLL Girl of The Week, Jessica is a travel agent when not dancing at the Arena and is the lone military veteran on the squad, having served 4 years in the US Navy. She's easily the quietest and most reserved of all the Bandettes vets and probably more so than any of the rookies as well. That being said, I've watched her grow a lot in that area over the course of her career that started with a Championship season in 2008. I probably almost never heard her speak in her rookie season, and that includes at the post-game parties that used to be held at Pearl Street. Nowadays, she's a lot more outspoken and self-assured but still has her quiet moments, letting her incredible smile do the talking. Considering that smile helped win her a recent NLL Girl of The Week vote, there's a lot of people besides me who think it's pretty spectacular. She's been dancing since the age of 4 and cheered for the West (Puget) Sound Saints semipro football team while she was stationed in Washington while still in the Navy. Jessica's secondary photo comes from before the home opener against the Toronto Rock when the Bandettes were greeting fans coming into the game. Shown posing for the camera are Jessica H, Lauren B, and Chelsea.
This week's NLL.com Girl of the Week - Jessica of the Bandettes - hails from Niagara Falls, NY. A veteran of the United States Navy equipped with a Bachelor of Science from Niagara University, Jessica is enjoying her fourth season cheering on the Buffalo Bandits. She has been dancing for quite a while now, starting when she was four years old, practicing everything from ballet to hip hop and lyrical to baton.
Every week during the season, NLL.com is going to do a feature on one of the dancers from around the league and the way they decide is through fan votes. This week, up for the honor from the Bandettes is the stunning Jessica H. She's a 4th year vet on the Bandettes after having spent 4 years in the US Navy. Just go to http://www.nll.com/ and click on Jessica's vote button and we'll hopefully see the NLL have a feature up on her very soon! With a smile like hers, you know she's the only choice to make!
Valerie, Stefanie
Our first photo from the Buffalo Jills comes from the Buffalo Jills Golf Tournament held recently and features two ladies who should need no introduction as 2010 is going to be their 5th seasons on the squad. Valerie and Stefanie are two of only 3 left from that rookie class along with dance captain Christina. Despite being out of high school for a few years, Val has been to the prom 3 times since joining the Jills…as a result of contests by 97Rock. This year, they added a twist…the contest winner had to choose from among 6 of the Jills to be his date. He still chose Valerie and while any of the other 5 girls would’ve been great choices, who can blame him for choosing Val? Stefanie’s major claims to fame are the gymnastic abilities she’s shown on the sidelines over the course of her career and her willingness to go anywhere to support the troops. This October, during the Bills bye week, she’ll join 7 other Jills in a troop visit to Iraq, her 3rd trip to the Middle East.
Reena, Jessica W, Gabrielle, Amanda V
Also from the Jills Golf Tourney, we have a photo featuring 3 rookies and 1 2nd year vet from the Jills. We’ve already introduced you to dancer Reena and ambassador Jessica W. Posing with them are Gabrielle, in her 2nd year as a dancer, and Amanda V. All I can tell you right now about Amanda is that she’s a dancer on the Jills, having joined most of the other dancers on the squad when the Jills performed at the Bills Open Practice back in June.
If you’re looking to meet some of the Jills this weekend, there’s a pair of appearances that you can find them at. Some of them will be appearing at the Grand Opening of the NAPA Auto Parts store on Southwestern Blvd in Orchard Park, an event going from 10am-2pm on Saturday and also featuring Martin Truex’s NASCAR race car. http://www.wnytire.com/thenapastore.htm
Also, the Rochester Redwings are hosting the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs on Sunday for Buffalo Bills Day at Frontier Field. As part of the day, CJ Spiller, Torell Troup, and Alex Carrington will be on hand for the game along with Billy Buffalo and members of the Buffalo Jills. http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2010/08/11/bills-rooks-to-be-at-red-wings-game/
Beth, Jessica
This week’s 1st Jills photo of The Week comes from Jills 1st cuts and features a mixture of dancers and ambassadors. However, with the exception of the incomparable Murissa, they all spent last season as Jills Ambassadors. From left to right in the back we have 3rd year dancer Murissa, 2nd year ambassador Ruby, 2nd year vet and 1st year dancer Nicole, 2nd year ambassador Alyssa, 2nd year vet and 1st year dancer Kristen, and 2nd year ambassador Courteney. 2nd year ambassador Lindsay and 4th year ambassador Laura pose in the front.
Our second photo comes from the Saturday Bills draft party held for season ticket holders at the Bills Fieldhouse and features a pair of beautiful rookie dancers on the Jills. We already introduced you to Emily, a girl who had a pretty good birthday this year, having spent it at the Jills’ 1st major event of the season, their Open Practice at the Fieldhouse at the start of June. Jen is one of the youngest girls on the squad and wasted little time in trying out for the Jills almost as soon as she turned 18, it seems. Judging by her already stunning good looks and knowing that Buffalo Jills generally get better looking as they age, it’s kinda scary how beautiful she’ll likely get over the course of her Jills career.
This week's Bandette of The Week is the lovely Jessica. In her 3rd year with the Bandettes, she spends her gamedays on Meghan's line and is unique among her squadmates. Jessica is a 4-year veteran of the United States Navy, having spent the bulk of that time as a boatswain's mate on the USS Carl Vinson. Luckily, she also spent some time on shore duty and, while doing that, danced for the West (Puget) Sound Saints semipro football team. Luckily for us, that didn't satisfy her appetite for dance as she tried out for the Bandettes shortly after leaving active duty and has been on the squad ever since. Known to be quiet and reserved by those around her, she's also pretty forceful when the time is right. Before one game this season, when the Bandettes were greeting fans coming to the game and handing out info on their Jr Bandettes dance clinics, Jessica ran out of Dance Clinic fliers multiple times because she kept beating her linemates to the punch everytime a girl came up the escalator to make sure her parents had the info on the dance clinics. You can read more about Jessica at http://www.bandits.com/profileB.asp?bandetteID=200902
For the final edition of the 2009 Bandette of The Week series, we take a look at 2nd year vet Jessica. Known as the military sister of the Bandettes, Jessica spent 4 years in the US Navy right after high school before coming home to Western NY. She's a former member of the Niagara Royalettes Dance studio and even found a way to dance while she served the nation. When she was stationed in Washington State, she danced for the West (Puget) Sound Saints semipro football team as well as get a start on her college degree, which she was scheduled to complete just a few weeks ago. While she's been off active duty since 2007, she's still on active ready reserve until 2010 and is ready to go back into action with little notice. That being said, we can hope that tensions ease in the Middle East, where Jessica served on an aircraft carrier in support of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. This way, we'll hopefully see this quiet and focused young lady dancing at HSBC Arena for several more years. You can read more about Jessica at http://www.bandits.com/bandette-09-jessica.cfm and don't forget to check out her video profile as well. Go to http://www.bandits.com/newsarchive.cfm?id=764 for the video link.
