Jessie Leigh Dance & Cheer Academy

General information

JLDC is a Dance & Cheerleading Academy based in Gosport and Portsmouth. Originally called “Jessie’s”, JLDC first started back in September 2015. This was after Jessie moving over from Australia in December 2014 to live with her partner Mark. After struggling to find jobs, she auditioned for a local dance team and was offered a job to teach there. From here, she began teaching All Star Cheerleading and over the 6 months the idea of having her own academy grew and grew until finally she took the plunge, quit her job and began coaching her own classes.

The first two months were extremely testing for both Mark and Jessie. After giving their best efforts to get the word out about their new classes, no one turned up. Every week they came more excited and every week no body turned up. After having a lot of faith and not giving up they finally got their first cheerleaders! As the weeks went on they averaged five athletes each session, and this continued all the way until Christmas of that year.

Over the December break founders Mark and Jessie put a plan together to grow the academy. A name change from “Jessie’s” to “Jessie Leigh Dance & Cheer Academy”, a change of venue and branding as whole was made in order preserve the academy and help further their passion to increase the awareness of All Star Cheerleading as a sport.

As January came, classes started again and now averaged 7-8 athletes a week. An improvement, but they knew they could help more. Over the next 6 months classes grew to around 15/16 athletes on a consistent basis and they also started two after school clubs in the Portsmouth area. This lead to Portsmouth Grammar School competing a Pom Dance at the BCA Schools Summer Showdown Championships placing 1st. In July 2016, Jessie was keen to host tryouts for what was to be JLDC’s first competitive season. After visiting just short of every school in Gosport and Portsmouth, handing out over 2000 flyers and promoting via social media, they had an unbelievable turnout of 87 Athletes between the Gosport and Portsmouth Areas. This is when JLDC became real for the founders and the academy as you know it was born.

Just over ten months later the academy has grown from two coaches to ten, from two after school clubs to six, from one team to nine and from fifteen athletes to two hundred and thirty.

Mark and Jessie are forever grateful for the support from the athletes and parents and they genuinely believe they have a fantastic support system and a second family.