Gosport dance group holds fundraisers for £91,000 shot to be world champions

The Jessie-Leigh Dance and Cheer (JLDC) Academy is based in Gosport, and has a variety of teams. It welcomes children from two years old to adults of all ability levels.

The academy’s founders are husband and wife duo Jessie-Leigh and Mark Metelko. The pair met in Edinburgh 2012 and started the dance and cheer programme when Jessie-Leigh moved to the UK from Australia in 2015.

Co-owner and head coach Jessie-Leigh, said: ‘We love the sport, but we just want to build good people. Having a good ethos and building strong and independent athletes, setting them up for the rest of their lives is the most important thing for us.’

Jessie-Leigh introduced her love of dance to co-owner and husband Mark, from Gosport, who embraced the sport and is now head stunt and tumbling coach at the Academy.

‘I think we both play on each other’s strengths,’ said Mark.

Last year, two hip hop teams and one cheerleading team from the academy won places to represent England at The Summit, the Varsity All Star World Championships, held in Florida, April 2022.

The competition is the highest possible reaching point for cheerleaders ahead of an Olympic level. Groups will compete against the best in the world and winners will be crowned world champions.

The competitors, who train two to three times a week, are finalising routines for the Championships this week and plan to showcase them to their family and friends in a ‘polar preview’ on December 18.

‘They’re nervous, but the consensus is that they’re really excited, for some of these kids it’s the first time they will go on a plane,’ says Jessie-Leigh.

Out of a total of around 250 members, 44 members of the JLDC Academy have been invited to compete at The Summit next year, a trip with a £91,000 price tag.

Mark and Jessie-Leigh along with other coaches from the Academy will be chaperoning the young athletes to the competition in Florida, to partly release the financial burden on families.

‘For a lot of the families, financially this is such a big commitment for them, we’ve been trying to do as much fundraising as we can,’ Jessie-Leigh said.

The dance group have carried out multiple fundraising efforts, such as bingo nights, bake sales, disco’s and their latest drive will see members of the Academy take a New Years Day dip in the sea in Gosport.

The dancing duo say winning is not the most important thing to them and their teams, they just want their athletes to have fun.

‘We’re just going to go out there to achieve our goals and make memories that will last forever,’ said Jessie-Leigh.

To find out more about the JLDC Academy visit jldcuk.com

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.