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 Photos of The Week

This week, we take a look at another pair of photos from the Congratulatory Party and from last year's Jills Golf Tournament. From the Congratulatory Party, we have a shot with Nichole, Jennifer, and Stephanie M. Nichole spent the 2000-2005 seasons dancing on the sidelines of Ralph Wilson Stadium and then moved more behind the scenes starting in 2006 when she took on the role of Jills Coordinator. Jennifer is one of promising rookies with the Jills this year and besides being a real go-getter, she loves MTV's Real World. Stephanie spent a few years dancing with the Jills a few years ago and has been the Jills director since 2002, guiding the squad through increased positive exposure with additions like Jills events at different times of the year, the Ambassador Squad, and a roster that keeps growing.

From last year's Jills Golf Tournament, we have a trio of 2nd year vets. Jill D is a former competitive dancer and is one of the most friendly girls around. Katie C is as zany as they come and her fun-loving attitude is obviously not the only thing about her drawing comparisons to Cameron Diaz. Lisa was last year's rookie of the year and that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone as she's been a cheerleader since the age of 4, 18 years so far.

Don't forget! This weekend is the Taste of Buffalo in Niagara Square in downtown Buffalo and it'll be a great chance to not only sample a lot of different local cuisines, but meet many of the rookie Buffalo Jills we'll be seeing on the sideines this fall. Also, if you haven't gotten your tickets for the Jills Golf Tournament on July 21st yet, it's not too late to reserve a day of golf, entertainment, prizes, and the company of the entire Buffalo Jills squad. Just visit http://www.buffalojills.net/contact.html to get your tickets.

Buffalo Jill of The Week Nichole B

This week, we're taking a look at someone who's more than a Jill...if that's possible. Nichole B first joined the Jills in 2000 and made captain in her 3rd year, in 2002. Despite making captain, 2002 wasn't exactly Nichole's favorite season. She actually broke her ankle in the preseason and didn't take the field for a regular season game until the famed Snow Bowl Game against Miami. She kept busy though....she was in the Fieldhouse greeting fans before almost every game that year..and giving progress reports on her ankle...lol. In 2006, she actually left the sidelines and moved into an administrative role with the squad as their new Coordinator, a job that hadn't officially existed before but became necessary due to the demand for the Jills. She had actually been doing the job to an extent over the previous few seasons as a captain, but now she gets paid for it.

But joining the Jills was only one way in which this young lady has excelled. For a few years, she co-owned a lingerie and swimwear store in Williamsville and has been the President of her college's Alumni Association for the past few years. Nowadays, she works with events for the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation in addition to her other work. Check out the files section of the webgroup (registration required) for a zip file filled with some of her bios and pics from over the course of her Jills career.