While it is not uncommon for students to play more than one school sport, senior Khloe Felicani plays two positions that are widely regarded as the hardest positions in her respective sports: catcher in softball, and goalkeeper in field hockey. The difficult roles she takes on demonstrate Felicani’s dedication to hard work, and the meaningful impact she has had on her teams.
Felicani has committed to Springfield College to play Division III softball in Springfield, Massachusetts. According to Felicani, she chose Springfield for its quality academics and high-level athletics program.
“I ultimately chose Springfield because I wanted to play softball in college. I was also trying to focus on my academics throughout the process of choosing my college. I also chose it because I wanted a tight-knit community and Springfield really just had everything I wanted,” Felicani said.
According to Felicani, she started playing softball at six years old and stuck with it due to her long-standing passion for the sport. She decided to continue playing the sport in college because she knew that if she didn’t, she would have regretted it.
“I think that my ultimate mindset was if I don’t play softball, then what were all those years for?” Felicani said. “Softball has been a passion of mine for a very long time and I wasn’t going to give it up.”
Although Felicani has played field hockey for seven years, she never considered playing it in college like she did with softball.
“I’ve been playing field hockey since sixth grade, and up until freshman year, I was playing midfield, but then I decided I was going to become a goalie,” Felicani said. “Field hockey was just a fun sport to me and it was never a passion like softball was. Since I played softball for much longer, I think I developed more love for it.”
According to Felicani, a key mentor in her softball journey was her catching coach, Joe Claire.
“[Claire] really helped me during a lot of the hard times, especially the recruiting days when I just wanted to give up,” Felicani said.
Felicani also stated that she has built many treasured relationships with other players and coaches, which nurtured her love for the sport. According to Felicani, the team had a lot of encouraging leaders which really helped her learn how to take charge.
One Westford Academy coach who Felicani believes helped her greatly is softball head coach Gina Mustoe. According to Mustoe, she thinks that Felicani is someone who brightens people’s days and who always shows up with a good attitude.
“[Felicani] has grown a lot in the last four years, in her maturity, awareness, and her empathy for others. She works really hard independently to work on her skills and she has high expectations for herself as well as her peers,” Mustoe said.
Mustoe mentioned how well Felicani got along with others and brought smiles to everybody’s faces, adding that Felicani is a very happy person and was always in a good mood.
“Everyone knows when [Felicani] is around because of her positive energy and super impactful words,” Mustoe said. “Sometimes she will come work at our [softball] clinics and all of the kids adore her and look up to her. She is just an amazing player and person at the same time.”
