Bandette of The Week Justina

Our final entry on the Bandette of The Week series for the 2011 season is 4th year vet and captain Justina. Wanna be impressed? Justina made captain in only her 2nd season on the squad after showing strong leadership even during her rookie season. Prior to joining the Bandettes, Justina's proudest accomplishment was performing in The Nutcracker with the Pittsburgh Ballet. Personally, I'd say her accomplishments as a Bandettes have now surpassed that. But then you add in the fact that she earned her Master's degree with a 4.0 average and she's now getting set to go after a 2nd Master's Degree, and you have to wonder how high the limit is for her. Considering her drive and dedication to succeeding, I don't know if she has any limits. One other thing to really love about Justina is this. When so many young people take their degrees elsewhere to work, Justina really wants to stay in Buffalo. Besides getting to stay around family and friends, she loves the Bandits, Bills, and Sabres too much to leave. Justina's secondary photo comes from the postgame party following the game against the Philadelphia Wings back in February. Shown posing for a number of cameras are Danielle, Beth, Justina, Jaclyn, Melissa, and Erin Y.

You can read more about Justina at http://www.bandits.com/bbio.asp?bandID=Justina

Vote for Justina!!

A few weeks ago, NLL.com featured 4th year vet Jessica as their NLL Girl of The Week after the fans voted her that honor. The Bandettes boast 2 4th year vets on their roster this year...2 Bandettes who finished off their rookie seasons dancing and cheering as the Bandits won their 4th Championship. Of course I'm referring to captain Justina and she's up for election as the NLL Girl of The Week on http://www.nll.com/ Why vote for her? Simple...besides the fact she's a knockout who keeps getting better every season, she was named captain in her 2nd season on the squad...she's now in her 3rd season as a captain with only 4 years as a Bandette! If anyone is deserving of the NLL Girl of The Week honor, it's Justina.

Buffalo Pro Cheer Photos of The Week

This week, our 1st photo from the Jills comes from the Bills' Friday night draft party and features 2nd year vet Kristen, 9th year director Stephanie, and rookie Ambassador Gina. Kristen, as we previously told you, is moving over from the ambassador squad to the dance squad. With the 2010 season, Stephanie will have put in 17 seasons with the Jills, with an 8-year career on the sidelines including a pair of Super Bowls. Gina will be one of those girls you'll see at the 97Rock and 103.3 The Edge Tailgate parties this fall at the Ralph as she joined the ambassador squad this year.

Our 2nd photo comes from the Jills Open Practice held at the start of June. Shown posing are 2nd year vet Courteney and rookie Meghan. Something that isn't widely known to the fans is the fact that rookie Jills are paired up with a veteran "buddy" to turn to for help in acclimating to the squad. Courteney is fellow ambassador squad member Meghan's buddy. We can't say for sure that Courteney's trademark positivity rubbed off on Meghan because she may have already had it already. One veteran who has definitely rubbed off on Meghan is Murissa...they both just love to pose for the camera like nobody's business.

From the Bandettes, we have a photo from the Pearl Street Postgame party following the February 6 game against the Toronto Rock. Shown posing for the camera are Meghan, Beth, and Justina. Meghan just completed her 5th year on the squad, the last 2 as captain, and has been a big contributor in helping get the info on the Bandettes out to the fans. Beth was in her 4th season on the squad after starting out in 2006 with Meghan and taking 2009 off. Justina finished up her 2nd season as a captain like Meghan did, but got named captain in only her 2nd season, with her rookie season being the 2008 Championship Season.

Bandette of The Week Justina

I suppose it's fitting that this week's Bandette of The Week is none other than 2nd year captain and 3rd year vet Justina. She and Jill of The Week Jessica are actually pretty good friends and Justina even came to last year's Bills draft party at Ralph Wilson Stadium in part to support Jess. Of course there's also the fact that Justina's a big Bills fan as well as a Bandits and Sabres fan to consider. But there's a lot more to Justina than her love of sports. She's currently a graduate student on her way to becoming a teacher. After seeing her working with Jr Bandettes her 1st 2 years on the squad, any student would be lucky to be in her class...and that goes beyond the boys who will end up having a crush on her. As I noted earlier, she's a 3rd year vet and a 2nd year captain, which is quite an accomplishment, making captain in only her 2nd season on the squad. But Justina showed strong leadership skills even in her rookie season as has been exceptionally enthusiastic about the Bandettes and the Bandits from the start, even going so far as to label herself as a good luck charm that helped the Bandits win the title in her rookie season. We're hoping that having her and her co-captain Beth back together again, after Beth's season off, helps keep the Bandits on the winning track to another Champions Cup in 2010. You can read more about Justina at http://www.bandits.com/profileB.asp?bandetteID=200911

Buffalo Pro Cheer Photos of The Week

While we wait for September to begin so we can start on the new Jill of The Week series, we'll take a look at some of the pics from earlier this year, from the 2009-2010 Buffalo Jills and the 2009 Buffalo Bandettes.

From the Jills, we show off a photo from the 1st round of cuts held at the Town Ballroom. Pictured here are Kaitlin and Gabrielle. Kaitlin comes back to the Jills after a year off (she was actually the only 2007 rookie to finish that season without choosing to come back in 2008). She was an Ambassador her rookie year and will be dancing on the sidelines in 2009. Gabrielle is a friend of hers who came with her to try out this year and also made the squad. Back in June, some of the Jills were involved with an appearance at Merritt Estate Winery and Gabby was in the dunking booth...the weather was only in the 60s so she had goosebumps on her goosebumps when she got out...but she kept smiling throughout the experience. Major props to her on that!

From the Bandettes, we have a photo from the Round 1 playoff win against Boston. After all the home Bandits games, Pearl Street Grill and Brewery hosts a postgame party and in addition to most of the players being there, a lot of the Bandettes are there as well. Shown smiling for a photo we see Justina, Erin J, and Amanda. Justina was in her 2nd year on the squad and spent it as a captain after showing some strong leadership in her rookie season. Erin is a former Pro Bowler with the Buffalo Jills who took charge of the Bandettes a few years ago and while she expects a lot of her squad, she can also be "one of the girls" after a long gameday. Amanda was in her 2nd year with the Bandettes and is studying for her Master's degree in physical education and health and may go for another Master's degree in Athletic Administration. She's also a recent NLL Girl of The Week. http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=4019

Bandette of The Week Justina

This week, we take a look at one of the Bandettes captains as our Bandette of The Week. In just her second season, Justina made it to the rank of captain of the Bandettes but was even showing leadership early in her rookie season. Besides her leadership, she's also a self-proclaimed good luck charm as she remarked after last year's NLL Championship game that it was her presence on the Bandettes that propelled the Bandits to the title. I guess that means she can't be allowed to retire anytime soon. But besides a long career with the Bandettes, Justina is working towards a degree in psychology and certified elementary education and loving life while she's doing it. Whether it be hanging out or vacationing with her Bandettes squadmates or taking in a Bills game to see some of her friends on the Jills, she's living each day as if it were her last. You can read more about Justina at http://www.bandits.com/bandette-09-justina.cfm

Buffalo Jills and Bandettes Pictures of The Week

This will be the final edition of the Pictures of The Week for the 2008 offseason as we start up the Jill of The Week feature next week with pictures and info of the 48 members of the 2008-09 Buffalo Jills. This week's Jills photo comes direct from Jills Director Stephanie M and features the women who guide the Jills through their training, their responsibilities, and on gamedays.
On the left, we have the Jills choreographer Kelli Wagner. Kelli took her current job with the Jills in 2002 and does more than turn heads at the Ralph on gamedays. She has successfully grown the Junior Jills organization into a coveted program for youth in Western New York and it’s surrounding areas. Kelli’s choreography has also been featured on Fox TV, ABC-Buffalo, several Buffalo radio station events, many community events, overseas military shows, as well as HSBC Arena-Buffalo. Kelli is the three time recipient of America’s Young Choreographer of the Year and has received numerous choreography and high score awards. In the middle is Jills Director Stephanie Mateczun and Steph spent a number of years on the sideline herself before taking the reins as Jills Director in 2002. Since then, the Jills have added on the Ambassador Squad, gotten more national positive recognition, many more appearance requests, and the Jills Swimsuit Calendar now includes every member of the squad. Other squads, even with their smaller numbers, only include a part of the squad on their calendars. Nichole Becker, on the right, is in her 3rd season as the coordinator after cheering through the 2000-2005 seasons, along with rookie squadmates Omarlla and Eileen. It was a new position created because of all the extra work that goes into the squad the past several years. Nichole was actually already performing some of the duties of coordinator her last few seasons as captain but the increased popularity and exposure of the squad caused the position of coordinator to become a full-time one.

From the Bandettes, we have a pic taken near the end of the 3rd quarter of the first game against the Minnesota Swarm. Incidentally, home games against the Swarm will be fewer and farther between as the NLL recently announced that Minnesota would be moving to the NLL's West Division. But I digress. This picture, taken just before the squad went out on the floor for their 3rd intermission routine, features Bandettes co-captains Melissa and Meghan with rookie Justina smiling for the camera. The smiles may have been from the way the game was going. After falling behind 9-6 at the half, the Bandits poured on 5 goals to none in the 3rd to hold an 11-9 lead at the time this picture was taken.

Continuing our look into the past at the Buffalo Bombshells, we see current Buffalo Bandette Korinne in a pic from the 2002 AFL season.

Buffalo Jills and Bandettes Photos of The Week

This week, our first Jills photo comes to us from this past April's Congratulatory Party, held at Club Paradise in Blasdell. Club Paradise will also be the site of the Swimsuit Calendar Release Party on October 25th so if you haven't already marked it on your calendars, don't hesitate to do so. In this first shot, we see Tiffany, Jenica, and Jessica L posing for a quick photo. Tiffany is a very engaging girl when it comes to conversation, very friendly and easy to talk to. Jenica is coming off a season in which she was the swimsuit calendar covergirl and also mugged for the camera from the sidelines more than anyone save the departed Amanda P. Jessica, known as Jess to her friends, is always sporting a bright smile and if you're thinking of throwing her off guard with a blonde joke or two, forget it. She's heard them all and has plenty of her own to tell as well. But she's known more for her fun personality than her natural blonde hair.

The second Jills photo comes from the first (annual?) Buffalo Men's Show held at the Agri-Center at the fairgrounds in Hamburg this past May. This was an event that celebrated men with sports stars, electronics toys like big screen TVs and game systems as well as snowmobiles, ATVs, and even replicas of KITT and the General Lee. The best part, though, was the gorgeous women including a Playboy Playmate, the CW23's Lydia, and of course, the Buffalo Jills. In this shot we see Lonna, Omarlla, Valerie, Stephanie BR, and Amelina posing for a quick photo.

With the Bandettes, continuing our look at the NLL Championship Game, we see a shot taken during halftime while waiting for the Bandettes to take the field for their performance. While the other girls were going over dance moves or getting psyched up to get back on the field, some of the girls posed for a quick picture. Here we see Jessica, Ashley, and Justina. Prior to joining the Bandettes, Jessica was in the US Navy while Ashley's face is familiar to longtime Buffalo pro cheerleading fans as she spent the 2002-03 NFL season as a member if the Buffalo Jills. Justina's claim to fame is twofold. She once performed with the Pittsburgh Ballet Company and she's now the self-proclaimed good luck charm for the Bandits so we should see a few more NLL Titles the next few years as long as she sticks around.

And here's a little blast from the past from the archives. Here's Casey from the Bandettes circa 2002 in her days with the Buffalo Bombshells.

Buffalo Jills and Bandettes Photos of The Week

This week, both of our Jills photos come from the recent Buffalo Jills Golf Tournament where 44 of the 48 2008-09 Buffalo Jills were in attendance. The first pic, taken before the golfers started showing up, features a pair of our beautiful new rookies. As Buffalo Jills, the girls need to be smiling as much as possible while on the sidelines and Ashley, on the left, is constantly smiling as it is. Dana was showing us her smile before any of the rookies as she was one of the prospective Jills who we were introduced to at the Jills Open Workshop when she showed up with veterans Jess L and Stephanie Bu.

Our second shot, taken shortly before everyone went out on the course, features rookie Lynn and 2nd year vet Jill R. Lynn will be flashing us her smile all season long from Jamie and Eileen's line and anyone paying close attention to the pictures the last few years knows that Jamie has her line getting group shots quite frequently. Jill R spends her gamedays as a part of the Jills Ambassador Squad and we'll see her at tailgate parties with 97Rock and 103.3 The Edge as well as in the Fieldhouse before games as well as with Billy Buffalo during a game on occasion.

Our Bandettes photo this week is another one from the post-game party at Pearl Street Grill and Brewery following the Buffalo Bandits Championship win this past May. This picture features rookie Justina and 5th year vets Kimberly and Erin H. Justina is a girl who's gonna have to stick with the Bandettes for many years to come. She made a proclamation at the post-game party that she must be a good luck charm for the Bandits. Kimberly is one of the most popular of the Bandettes going by fan reactions on the NLL Message boards. They created 2 sigs dedicated to her and another one that featured her and 2 of her squadmates. Erin H has been a captain for 3 of her 5 seasons and showed off her crowd control abilities as the Mistress of Ceremonies for the pregame festivities prior to the East Finals of the NLL Playoffs this past May.

Bandette of The Week Justina

Justina is one of the true rookies on the Bandettes and her future includes being the school counselor that guys will actually want to go see. It's probably fitting that the degree she's pursuing is in the field of psychology as she says she has a tendency to overanalyze everything. That just means she's thorough. But beyond that, she's enjoying her time with the Bandettes so far, just the latest group she's danced with. Before this, she spent some time performing with the Pittsburgh Ballet. You can read more about Justina at http://www.bandits.com/bandette-08_justina.cfm