Sunday's game against the Jets was about a lot more than the 28-9 win, the first win over the Jets after 6 straight losses to the AFC East rivals. It was also the end of an era for the Jills. After a career that lasted longer than any other has in NFL Cheerleader history, 13-year vet Omarlla B is hanging up her pom-poms. She joined the Jills in 2000 alongside longtime squadmate Eileen, who only retired 2 years ago, and current Jills coordinator Nichole and has grown a lot as a person, as a woman, and as a cheerleader in those 13 years with literally hundreds of experiences under her belt. She's made friends with squadmates, won respect and made friends with cheerleaders around the league, including during the 2006 NFL Cheerleader Playoffs, and appreciated the fans, including a shout out to the loyal readers on the Buffalo Pro Cheer Blog 3 years ago on her 10th anniversary. But the biggest thing she's done is set a strong example to everyone she meets on how to treat people with professionalism, class, and sincerity.
Omarlla
Shown with Nichole, Omarlla even received a customized jersey
Omarlla isn't the only retiree as some other girls will be moving on from the Jills, although the only one I know of who has made it known publicly is another captain. Jills Ambassador Squad Captain Laura, also known as the Martin Archery Girl, a former host on CW23, star of her own show on ESPN2, and quite a fantastic chef as well is calling it a career after 6 seasons.
Lindsey V, Ashley, and Laura before the game
Omarlla's line coming out with Emily flashing a pretty smile for the camera
Kristina and Maria
Jill and Jayanti
Amanda V and Lindsey C
Jenny, Katrina, and Nicole L
Valerie and Christina, 7th year vets coming off field together
You can see all the pics at http://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/32179
Next up for the Jills is tryouts in a few months so, other than some more photos from the 2012 season coming in the next few weeks, the Blog's focus will be primarily on the Buffalo Bandettes. However, don't forget to tune into NBC-TV on the evening of January 27, 2013 to watch to see 6th year vet Lisa representing the Buffalo Jills in the Pro Bowl.
This week, we take a look at rookie dancer Katie B as our Buffalo Jill of The Week. Dancing on Christina's line between Loren and Lindsey C, Katie had the biggest cheering section at tryouts last spring out of all the rookies. The question about that is who they were. Besides being generally a popular girl, she teaches hip-hop dance classes and undoubtedly had several of her students in the audience. She's also a hairstylist with hopes of opening her own salon one day and a big Bills fan after meeting Phil Hansen when she was a little girl. You can read more about Katie at http://buffalojills.com/profile.php?PID=50 Katie's secondary photo is a shot taken at the Bills' Home Opener against the Chiefs. Shown in the photo taken at the end of the 1st quarter when Christina's line was changing sections are Loren, Katie B and Lindsey C.
Loren, Katie B, and Lindsey C
Meet Katie in this video shot at 1st cuts with introduction done by Jills choreographer Kelli Wagner.
As it turned out at 1st cuts, Katie got to dance alongside the 2011 dance rookie of the year, Jenny, as seen in this video of the two of them performing.
Lauren K, Alicia, Brianna V, and Brianna A
From the Bandettes comes a photo from the recent Bandits Open Practice. Shown posing for a photo between performances are 2nd year vets Lauren K and Alicia with rookies Brianna V and Brianna A. See all 4 of these young ladies performing when the Bandettes open up the Bandits home schedule at First Niagara Center on January 12th!
Unfortunately, a number of issues prevented me from going to the Toronto game to cover the Jills this year the way I did in 2010 but I'm not without my resources. Pro Bowl Dan, who is known for getting Pro Bowl Cheerleader Photos for Ultimate Cheerleaders.com as well as photos for the Ben-Gals and other squads made the trek to Toronto and was kind enough to share some of the photos he took with the Blog, the Jills fans, and the Jills.
Omarlla's line at the Bud Light Tailgate Party
Dan started off at the Bud Light Tailgate Party getting photos of Omarlla's line in action as they performed a dance routine for the NFL fans in attendance.
Jills in Stampede Row
Afterwards it was into the Rogers Centre where he had a seat up close along the sidelines with a great vantage point to get some fantastic shots of the Jills in action.
Alyssa U and Nicole S
Melissa, Val, and Lisa
Kelsey H and Maria
Jenny shows off one of the prettiest smiles in the NFL
Val's line in the endzone
Gabrielle and Chelsea smiling for a nearby camera
Rita and Chaundra in action
The always-stunning Gina
The sweet and petite Jill of the Jills
Amanda and Loren in action
Christina's line poses for a line shot
The phrase "super-cute" fits Lindsey C as well as anyone
See all the pics at http://buffaloprocheerbuffalojills.shutterfly.com/pictures/32016
We've also got the official video of the halftime performance featuring Psy, the Jills, and over 100 contest winners.
Next up for the Jills is the season finale in Orchard Park vs the Jets on December 30th.
This week, we take a look at rookie dancer Megan as our Buffalo Jill of The Week. Dancing on Valerie's line between Val and Lisa, her 1st exposure to the Jills came as a member of the Jr Jills. Since her first exposure with the Jr Jills, she became an outstanding gymnast and tumbler, which Bills fans got to see earlier this season when she was tumbling all over during routines on the sidelines and on the field. After her time on the Jills is done, hopefully not for several more years, she'll be working as a high school history teacher which makes me envy future generations. I generally did well in history classes but with a beauty like Megan teaching the class, I have to think she'd keep any guy's attention enough to inspire straight "A's!"You can read more about Megan at http://buffalojills.com/profile.php?PID=47 Megan's secondary photo comes from the game against New England. In this sideline shot, we have Megan, Lisa, Nicole S, and Valerie in the 3rd quarter.
Megan, Lisa, Nicole S, and Valerie
At tryouts this spring, Kelli made sure to point out that Megan was a Jr Jills cheerleader growing up as seen in Megan's intro video.
Obviously Megan's dance skills were in full force at 1st cuts as seen in her tryout video.
Stephanie O and Danielle
From the Bandettes comes a photo from the recent Bandits Open Practice. Shown posing for a photo between performances are 2nd year vet Stephanie O and rookie Danielle. See the two of them and the rest of the squad performing in front of the Bandits faithful when the Bandits face off against the Minnesota Swarm on January 12th!
After a quick exit from the playoffs last spring, the Buffalo Bandits are re-tooling for another run at the Champions Cup and to showcase the team, their new players, and their new uniforms, the Bandits held an Open Practice for the fans to come in and see the new team. The Bandits aren't the only ones who re-tooled as there are a lot of new faces joining the NLL's Premier Dance Team, the Buffalo Bandettes! Yes, there are still plenty of familiar faces returning under Jaclyn and Erin's direction including last year's captains, L.B. and Kirsten and of course the reigning NLL Girl of The Year, Stephanie O, but this squad seems to have as many new faces as I've seen
I got there just as the Bandettes were just about to perform for the 1st time, showing off some impressive flips at the start of the routine. After their performance, Swenney introduced the girls to the crowd as they performed a little extra.
Alicia (A-LEE-see-ya) and Amanda T are introduced to the crowd
The 2013 Buffalo Bandettes minus Kirsten and Chelsea
L.B., MaKenzie, and Lauren K
After their performance, the Bandettes circulated through the arena meeting fans, signing autographs, and posing for photos while the Buffalo Bandits worked through the 1st portion of practice. The Bandettes then put on a 2nd performance at the halfway mark of practice before heading back out to meet and greet more fans.
L.B. Cheri, Makenzie, Jessica, Amanda, Kelsey, and Alicia
Stephanie O, Brianna, Amanda C, Danielle, rookie (still learning names...my apologies). Chrissy, and Lauren K
Next up for the Bandettes, they'll be back at First Niagara Center in 4 weeks when the 2013 Buffalo Bandits host the Minnesota Swarm on January 12, 2013, hopefully coming off a win in Philadelphia the night before.
