Two of Coupeville’s best promoters of school and community spirit, Julia Felici (on left) and Nicole Becker.
There are people who are going through their lives, and than there are people who are making a real difference.
Julia Felici is young, only a junior at Coupeville High School, but the Wolf cheerleader and softballer already falls squarely into the second category.
From raising huge gobs of money for cancer research in honor of a close family friend who fell to the disease, to her work as a worthy adviser with her local assembly of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls — a Masonic youth service organization — Felici is touching lives.
“She’s pretty amazing!! Not that I’m partial or anything,” said Nanette Streubel, mother of Felici’s boyfriend, gridiron giant Nick Streubel.
Did we also mention that she loves her parents (“My Dad has to be my biggest influence. He has always led me by example and puts 100% into everything he does. He’s always taught me that good things come to those who work for it and to strive to be the best I can be.”) and is now taking karate classes with him?
The family that roundhouse kicks together stays together.
Felici comes across as a genuinely nice person, a young woman not out to toot her own horn, which is maybe why she hasn’t gotten a lot of publicity yet.
But she is without a doubt the kind of person a community looks at, takes a second look and then says, “We should all be proud to have her as one of us.”
For her part, she remains refreshingly low-key in describing herself.
“I’m pretty much your normal teenage girl,” Felici said. “I love cows, anything pink or sparkly, hanging out with my boyfriend Nick, spending countless hours on Pinterest, being with my family (especially my nephew Drake) and just being with my friends.”
Her community efforts have included a commitment to Relay for Life, an annual event to raise funds and awareness in the fight against cancer.
“A close family friend died of cancer after a long fight almost two years ago and it made a huge impact on my life and is the reason I am trying to help make a change,” Felici said.
“This year I sold sweatshirts and tote bags that said “fight like a girl” on the front and “support breast cancer awareness” on the back,” she added. “I planned on selling them just for breast cancer awareness month but kept receiving orders and ended up selling them until June. From the sweatshirts and bags alone I raised almost $900 for Relay for Life.”
When she’s not raising money, or fulfilling her duties to the Order of the Rainbow for Girls (“Being worthy adviser is much like being president of a club; I plan a calendar, run the meetings and communicate with all the adults and girls in the assembly. It takes up most of my time when I’m not at cheer”) she is one of the linchpins of Sylvia Arnold’s cheer squad.
A sport she almost didn’t take up.
“I started cheer halfway through football season freshman year,” Felici said. “The first home game of the season I watched from the bleachers and I realized I would much rather be on the sidelines with my friends cheering on the team then sitting on the cold bleachers.
“My favorite thing about cheer, well, at least about our cheer team, is that it’s the only time you can put 28 girls together and we all get along,” she added. “We all work together to accomplish great things.
“As for the physical aspect of cheer I love stunting, the fact that four girls can throw a girl in the air, have the girl do a 360 then catch her, will always amaze me.”
For those out there clinging to the antiquated notion that cheer is not a sport — we’ll call them idiots — all you have to do is watch one practice as Arnold cracks her (peppy, good-natured) whip.
“Cheerleading, just like any other sport, requires strength, determination and teamwork,” Felici said. “We go to competitions just like any other sport.
“I personally think cheer is one of the best sports because 90% of the time, the effort we put in to perfect our stunts and memorize our cheers is for the sole purpose of cheering on our friends and peers on the court and on the field,” she added. “We work hard to support others and bring spirit to the community.”
A community that is blessed to have a gem like her among us.
Coupeville Sports 
I know Julia personally and have for a long time. She is everything that is written here and more. She is a beautiful person inside and out. No matter what Julia chooses for a path in life she will make a huge mark where ever she goes and does. Our community is lucky to have this kind of person to mentor adults and kids alike. I am blessed to have her in my life.