Selecting players to the Pro Bowl is a process that includes voting from fans, players, and the coaches. When it comes to the cheerleaders, each of the 26 squads sends 1 representative and the selection process varies from squad to squad. In Buffalo, the Jills select a small group of girls who have to learn a routine from the previous year’s Pro Bowl. After they learn and perform the routine in front of their squadmates, a vote is taken among the girls on the squad and a Pro Bowl representative is selected. This year, 4th year vet and 1st year captain Emily came out on top of a group that included 3rd year vets Melissa and Jenny and 2nd year vet Alyssa K.
Emily’s journey to the Pro Bowl started when she was a little girl getting involved in dance. One of her great loves in dance is ballet and while many pro cheerleaders put aside dancing in a studio due to time constraints, Emily has continued her ballet even into her Jills years complete with recitals.
While it’s rare for pro cheerleaders to keep up with dance studio work, it’s fitting for Emily since she now has a Bachelor of Arts degree in dance and is planning on a career in dance. Eventually she’s hoping to open her own dance studio but before that would like to get a job where she can travel the world, like maybe with a Broadway-type show that tours. As it is, she’s already gotten to spend time in Tokyo, as part of a group of NFL Cheerleaders who went there to visit the troops a year ago.
Emily is calling it a career after this season and it’s hard to imagine a much better way to go out than to get to go to Hawaii and cheer in the Pro Bowl. Read more about Emily at http://www.buffalojills.com/profile.php?PID=114
