Buffalo Jill Of The Week Laura

This season's 1st Jill of The Week is 5th year vet Laura. This season she's the co-captain of the Jills Ambassador Squad, a role that requires her to be a great people person and able to carry on conversations with fans of all ages. Laura's very qualified at that and can talk with guys about things other than football. A lot of that stems from what she does a lot of the time when she's not acting as a Jill. She's the spokesmodel for Martin Archery and not only advertises the equipment, but uses it as well. In fact, last summer, ESPN2 aired a series of mini-episodes of Laura doing some hunting, and we're not talking about hunting for shopping bargains either. The show was called Redfield Redzone and focused on her learning and teaching about hunting, archery, and fishing. This is not to say she's totally tomboyish as she's still very feminine in many ways as well. For one thing, when she's actually home, which is rare considering how much time she seems to spend on the road, she's an ace in the kitchen with an award for her Ultimate Peanut Butter Pie as well as requests from her squadmates to bring some of her cookies or other concoctions to practices or to games. Laura's secondary photo comes from the Kid's Day game where several of the Jills Ambassadors were posing for photos and signing autographs in Lot C. Shown in the photo are Jessica, Laura, and Sara.

Jessica, Laura, Sara

You can read more about Laura at http://www.buffalojills.net/article.asp?id=1961209

2012 Buffalo Bandettes tryouts announced

Think you have what it takes to join a professional sports dance team and perform for fans at the First Niagara Center? The Buffalo Bandettes Dance Team is now looking for applicants to fill out their 2012 roster. The Bandettes are the hottest dance team in the National Lacrosse League as they dance for the perennial championship contenders, the Buffalo Bandits.

Auditions will take place over two days; Saturday Oct. 22 and Sunday Oct. 23 from 1:30 p.m. until 4 p.m., with registration at 1:00 p.m., at Gold's Gym located at 1402 French Road in Depew. Registration forms and waivers will be provided on site at Gold’s Gym.

On Oct. 22, you will learn the dance routine from the Bandettes choreographers, and perform on the Oct. 23 as well as interview with the judges. The 2012 team will be announced that Sunday evening.

When attending on Saturday, please remember the $25.00 Non-Refundable Application Fee as well as a current photo (photo will not be returned). Candidates must be at least 18 years old and have at least a high school diploma or its equivalent.

For questions, contact beabandette@yahoo.com.

See further details at http://www.bandits.com/newsX.asp?type=News&aID=274

NLL Schedule released!

The Bandettes in action at the 2011 East Finals

It's that time of year again. Yeah, the NFL Season is now underway but that's not what we're talking about. Today, the National Lacrosse League released their 2012 schedule and we can now see when we'll get to see the 2012 Buffalo Bandettes in action. In addition to the normal Saturday night home games, they have one Friday home game at the end of January against the Philadelphia Wings

• Saturday, January 14
• Toronto at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Saturday, January 21
• Buffalo at Rochester, 7:30pm
• Friday, January 27
• Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Saturday, January 28
• Buffalo at Minnesota, 8pm
• Saturday, February 4
• Washington at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Sunday, February 12
• Buffalo at Philadelphia, 4pm
• Saturday, March 3
• Colorado at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Saturday, March 10
• Buffalo at Rochester, 1:05pm
• Friday, March 16
• Buffalo at Toronto, 7:30pm
• Saturday, March 17
• Minnesota at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Saturday, March 24
• Buffalo at Calgary, 9pm
• Saturday, March 31
• Toronto at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Saturday, April 7
• Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Saturday, April 14
• Buffalo at Edmonton, 9pm
• Saturday, April 21
• Rochester at Buffalo, 7:30pm
• Saturday, April 28
• Buffalo at Washington, 10:30pm

See the entire NLL Schedule at http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=5162

The Jills at the Q for the Season Opener

The Jills working through their routine before the appearance

Obviously the Jills are pretty much occupied with their responsibilities at the Ralph for home games but for away games, they're able to make appearances at places like sports bars and the like to watch the games with the fans. The Q, a sports bar/night club in Jamestown, NY put on a big tailgate and Red, White, and Blue (in remembrance of 9/11) party for the Bills' opening win against the Chiefs and the fans that showed up for the event had a blast. For the game, Murissa, Melissa, Jenny, and Myesha mingled and posed with the fans, signed autographs, and sold calendars as well as helped with selling 50-50 raffle tickets.

Myesha, Murissa, Jenny, and Melissa with a diehard fan

But that was all just the icing on the cake. When you have 4 talented and beautiful dancers on hand, you just have to expect a performance and if you heard the cheers when the Jills finished their performance, you'd think the Q was far more packed than it was. It's not surprising in the least, either. We all know Murissa and Melissa have been excellent dancers in the Buffalo Pro Cheer community for several years. As far as Jenny and Myesha, well, there were only 2 rookies who performed at dinner at the 9th Annual Buffalo Jills Golf Tournament and these were those girls. These 4 girls really brought their "A" game when it came to their performing and with how well they dealt with the fans...I overheard several people still commenting positively about them after they left. I gotta say that the people who bought tickets and didn't show up should really be kicking themselves right now...for several reasons.
See all the pics at http://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/26780

Coming up next for the Jills, they'll be back performing at the Ralph next Sunday as the Bills open their home schedule. Be sure to stop in the Healthy Zone Fieldhouse as well as the 97Rock and Shredd and Ragan tailgate parties to meet the Jills Ambassador Squad as well as get your 2011-2012 Buffalo Jills Calendars. Also, don't forget that the Lot C pregame performances are on again for 2011. See several of the Buffalo Jills dancers performing in front of the Shredd and Ragan tailgate party before each and every home game this season!

Pictures from the 3rd Annual Blondes Vs Brunettes game with the Bandettes!

This year was the 3rd Annual meeting for the Blondes Vs Brunettes series in Buffalo and the fundraising for this event, which is focused on fighting Alzheimer's Disease, not only exceeded what had been raised in previous years, but far surpassed the goals that the organization set for this year. This year, as in years past, several Buffalo Jills alumni played in the game with 3 ladies taking the field for the Brunettes and 2 suiting up for the Blondes. Unfortunately, several alumni that had hoped to play this year couldn't make the practice requirements but their thoughts were with their teammates and they hope to suit up next year if at all possible.

Two injured blondes, including Jills and Bandettes alumnus Amanda F

Also, while she was suited up, Blondes co-captain Amanda F was unable to play due to injury but was there with her team the entire way and finished as the 2nd leading fundraiser among the Blondes. Like last year's game, the Brunettes prevailed with a 15-7 victory and following the game, both sides retired to the Ellicott Creek Fire Hall for a victory party where fans and players alike celebrated another hard-fought game.

Jenn and Tammy

Danielle coming down with a catch

Awards were handed out at the Victory Party and some Jills alumni took home a few including a few less than serious ones.

• Most time on the turf-Brunettes-Danielle H
• Highest fundraiser-Brunettes-Danielle H
• Most time spent in front of a mirror-Brunettes-Jenn
• Dirtiest player-Desiree

Jills alumni weren't the only ones by any means who were unable to play after registering to play so to help with that, the BvB organization will be working on getting some practice dates determined before registration is open for the 2012 game. See all the pics at http://buffaloprocheerbuffalobandettes.shutterfly.com/pictures/3912 and give special attention to the Jills alumni playing in this game.

• Brunettes 18 Danielle H (1998-2002)
• Brunettes 55 Jenn (1997-2004)
• Brunettes 49 Tammy (1994,95,2002)
• Blondes 1 Desiree (2005)
• Blondes 35 Amanda F (2001-03)

Desiree and Amanda at the Victory Party

Ashley, Chelsea, Danielle, Amanda F, Noelle, Lauren S, and Kirsten

In previous years, the Buffalo Jills themselves were also involved on gameday but this year it was time for another pro squad to lend their support on the sidelines and the Buffalo Bandettes were more than up to the task. In total, 6 members of the NLL's premier dance squad were on hand cheering on the players and performing on the sidelines with captains Kirsten and Lauren S leading the way.
Of course we can't have a pro dance squad like the Bandettes there without a dance performance more than a regular sideline routine and, led off with some gymnastics courtesy of Noelle, they put on a rousing performance at halftime of the game.

They also gave me a little bit of news. There should be an official announcement coming up soon but Bandettes tryouts are expected to be held on October 22nd and 23rd so anyone interested in trying out should circle those dates on their calendars now. Also, it's official that Lauren S won't be returning to the squad, leaving Kirsten as the only Bandette still on the squad since the 2009 season.
Stay tuned as more info on Bandettes tryouts and the NLL schedule are both expected to become available in the next few weeks!