Coupeville Sports

   Ulrik Wells slices to the hoop during a middle school basketball game. (John Fisken photo)

Being an athlete on Whidbey Island means spending a fair amount of time on buses and ferries.

Which is fine by Ulrik Wells.

Ask him what he enjoys most about being an athlete and he gets right to the point.

“You get out of school early to go and play a game,” Wells said.

Of course, there are other benefits, as well.

“Plus, it is fun and being an athlete teaches you to have a hard work ethic,” he added.

Wells, who will be a freshman at Coupeville High School in the fall, plans to be a true three-sport man, playing football, basketball and baseball.

He has the height for hoops, some size for the gridiron and is currently playing on a Babe Ruth baseball squad out of Oak Harbor.

If he had to make a choice, though, the hardwood wins the battle for his heart.

“I like basketball because it has a lot of action,” Wells said.

When he’s not playing one of his sports, he can usually be found listening to rap, watching favorite movies like “Daddy’s Home” with Will Ferrell or out and about on a skateboard.

“You can keep getting better and better at it and I have been doing it for about four years now,” Wells said.

He strives for top marks in both the classroom and in the arena, and that work ethic is one of his calling cards.

“My strength is that I work really hard at what I do to get better at the position I play,” Wells said. “I want to get good grades, and to do good at every sport I play.”

As he adapts to a higher level of competition, he knows he will always have his family, including athletic younger sisters Izzy and Savina, to lean on, in good times and bad.

“Mostly my parents because they motivate me to do what I love and they showed me what God can do for me.”