Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 12-31-21

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Ultimate Thunder All-Stars Invited To Perform At Daytona 500
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
Felnicia Williams, also known as Coach NeeCee, wants the world for her girls. The founder and operator of Ultimate Thunder All-Stars Cheer is seeing her dreams come to fruition as she and her teams travel to the Daytona 500. The team has been invited to perform during the opening ceremony on February 19, 2022.
Williams was born in Texas but raised in Tampa. She grad- uated from Armwood High School, then traveled to Talla- hassee where she graduated from FAMU. She describes her- self as a proud Rattler.
She says that although she started cheering in the eighth grade, she skipped a couple of years before returning to it in high school. She states that it was not her favorite thing to do.
However, when she had her daughter, Zaniyah, things changed. Zaniyah had a habit of throwing her leg up in a cheer pose as a baby. She told her husband that she was sure
ULTIMATE THUNDER ALL-STARS
gym, so her girls can be men- tored, tutored, and do home- work.
Donations are needed for the lab as well as for the trip to Daytona. Williams and her team need support to pay for travel, lodging, uniforms, and shoes. The deadline for these donations is February 1, 2022.
You can donate by using the cashapp $ThunderCheer or stopping by the gym and drop- ping off a check. For the com- puter lab, she encourages volunteers to visit or contact her through social media.
“This is more than just a cheer program. This program saved me as I was facing a sep- aration and eventually, a di- vorce. These girls mean the world to me. The experience has been so positive,” Williams stated.
To contact Ultimate Thun- der Allstars, visit their website at https://www.gomotion- app.com/team/flut/page/hom e. Their Instagram is ulti- mate.thunder_allstars and their Facebook is Ultimate Thunder.
FELNICIA WILLIAMS, CENTER, WITH HER CHILDREN, ISYAH AND ZANIYAH MOSLEY.
she had a cheerleader on her hands.
She enrolled her daughter in the Brandon Bears program when she was four, and she has continued in the sport. She is now sixteen.
Through her daughter’s par- ticipation in cheer, Williams says that she has found her call-
ing as a cheer coach.
She coached with the Bears
for six years and noticed that the kids wanted to do more than the recreation league al- lowed them to do.
She walked out on faith in February 2016 and decided to offer All-Star Cheerleading. The organization was originally called the Brandon Thunder, but was changed to Ultimate Thunder.
The team has traveled throughout the state of Florida. There are 60+ girls on the five
teams. The ages are 4 to 17. Girls are slotted for teams based on age and experience.
The team is fundraising for two things in the new year, a computer lab, and the trip to the Daytona 500.
Williams proudly states that her girls are honor students, and that she wants to support and encourage the girls. She be- lieves that school work comes first and extracurricular activi- ties come second.
With that mindset, she wants to add a computer lab to her
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