Dance group holds fundraisers for world championship trip
Gosport-based academy co-owners and husband and wife Jessie-Leigh and Mark Metelko will be chaperoning 44 young members to the competition in Florida next year. The young athletes are aiming to make thousands of pounds towards the total cost of £91,000.
A GROUP of dancers is hoping to raise £9,000 so
they can take part in a world championship contest in Florida next year.
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 and co-owners 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 and introduced her love of dance to him. Mark, from Gosport, is now head stunt and tumbling coach at the Academy.
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.