Hamden woman now a New England Patriots Cheerleader
Melissa DeChello (Photo provided by the New England Patriots)
WTNH.com
April 22, 2016
HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A life-long Patriots fan from Hamden will now get to attend every game as she cheers for the team on the sidelines.
For Melissa DeChello, it’s a no-brainer. The Hamden-native has been dancing and teaching dance for years.
This fall, she’ll be cheering for one of the elite teams in pro football.
“This was my very first NFL tryout, so really Patriots was my only choice,” said DeChello.
The New England Patriots.
“It’s a really incredible organization, they obviously do really well. They’ve been in the Super Bowl multiple times and it’s really close to me,” said DeChello.
Melissa, who attends the University of New Haven, joins roughly three-dozen other women who made it through a grueling tryout process.
“It was really draining on the body, we had some fitness portions where we had a trainer come in and do hour-long intense workouts with us, so that was a lot to go through,” said DeChello.
Now, they’ll practice a couple days a week. There are promotional appearances for the team, and then on Sunday, it’s Game Day.
You can bet all of her friends and family will be rooting for her, but maybe not for her team.
“I’ve always been a Patriots fan, my brother has always been a Cowboys fan. So we get along, we don’t really let that affect us,” said DeChello.
Sidebar: Melissa is a former Westchester Knicks Dancer
