Jazz Rose

At 18 Jazz Rose was working as a coach for a football camp. Now, at 22, he runs his own coaching social enterprise: J&C Sports Academy. “We recognise that sport inspires all to do more and achieve more,” Jazz says of J&C’s mission. “It is a powerful tool for breaking down barriers; it speaks to the youth in a way they understand.”

Jazz landed his first job as coach through a lucky break - he was handed a contract when the previous coach changed careers. This got him into coaching in the first place, and most importantly, says Jazz, “set me on my way to trying things for myself.”

The experience of working for someone else can definitely be valuable, he says, “Provided you can learn from them. The more you learn, the more you earn.” After his success working as a coach for another organisation, and learning from what he saw there, he decided to strike out on his own.

Jazz set up J&C Sports Academy to deliver high quality sports coaching to young people. The Academy focuses on mental, emotional and social development, as well as physical activity, as Jazz feels that sport has a major role to play in addressing many issues in society.

Jazz raised his own funding through coaching and refereeing, even as he was in the early, perhaps most demanding stages of setting up the business. “I worked day and night to secure my own finances,” he says. “I will never forget the days of working from 6am to 12pm.”

Jazz always had a passion for sport but says that without hard work he could never have turned that passion into a business. In sport just as in business, “practice improves performance,” Jazz says. “So I’ve practised constantly every skill that I have today.”