Story Archive

Mind and Body Wellness: How Two Friends Empower Jacksonville’s Community 

By: Ella Harmon

Victoria Adeeb and Stephanie Cox are not only close friends, but they’re also on a shared mission to boost Jacksonville’s wellness—one mind and body at a time. Through their work in mental and physical therapy, these two women are transforming lives and proving that true health starts with physical and emotional well-being. 

Stephanie Cox, a local therapist, and Victoria Adeeb, a physical therapist, are passionate about fostering a happy and healthy community through their distinct approaches to wellness. 

Stephanie, owner of Better Being Therapy, has always been drawn to helping others. She has grown up in jacksonville and wants to see this community thrive mentally and emotionally. She specializes in couples therapy and hosts workshops to strengthen relationships. Her recent marriage workshop, co-hosted with her husband, left a lasting impact on attendees, offering couples valuable tools for relationship success. 

Victoria, owner of Better Body Rehab, shares Stephanie’s mission but focuses on physical well being. She takes a holistic approach to injury recovery focusing on women’s health and individualized care. Victoria teaches her clients how to heal themselves and live pain-free. 

Together, these two women prove that true wellness goes beyond getting through life—it’s about truly flourishing. Their combined expertise empowers their clients to achieve both physical health and mental well-being. Whether through therapy or physical rehabilitation, Stephanie and Victoria are dedicated to helping their clients lead healthier, happier lives.

PickleRage: Jacksonville’s new indoor pickleball spot

By: Savanna Stillwagner

PickleRage at Avenues Walk in Jacksonville, Fla. Officially opened its doors on November 21, bringing the city an all, new indoor pickleball spot. It is a state-of-the-art, 9 court, climate controlled facility with CushionX courts. Despite being membership based, they do allow nonmembers to play for a $14 fee per person for a two-and-a-half-hour slot. Players coming in have many varieties to play in such as open play, reserved courts, private lessons, group lessons, leagues and tournaments. Coaches include head pro Jared Cohen and Karin Kochis, the world’s top-ranked senior women’s pickleball player in the world.

Both coaches compete and play globally and locally. Benny Davis is also a coach who plays at PickleRage. Davis is a middle school coach who enjoys teaching people the “right way to play pickleball, not just playing tennis on a pickleball court.” Davis plays every day and has been playing for the last three years.

Despite having their official opening November 21, they had a ribbon-cutting ceremony open to the community with different events and specials the weekend of January 3 and 4. Donald Wagner, the general manager, puts an emphasis on Jacksonville’s strong pickleball community and strives to include them as well. PickleRage just hosted their first tournament February 15 and 16 open to the public and are hoping to do more in the future.

Those interested in playing at PickleRage can go to the CourtReserve app or to their website.

Infinity Allstars 

By: Amaris Delack

Have you ever been told cheerleading isn’t a sport? How these kids flip, and tumble around will make you second-guess that statement. Welcome to the world of Allstar cheerleading. Located at Jacksonville Beach is an Allstar cheerleading gym called Infinity Allstars. Infinity opened in 2004 and has been a successful gym ever since. Tracie Hartkemeyer owns Infinity and has been passionate about the sport for over two decades. Tracie coached Pop Warner cheer for 10 years and loved it, but she enjoyed getting ready for competition days much more than getting ready for game days, so she knew what she wanted to do. “I love kids. I absolutely love kids. And I have said that there is nothing better than to hear the kids giggle or see the smiles on their face whenever they accomplish something at competitions,” Tracie said. 

Infinity has 12 teams this season, and the highest-level team at Infinity is the Royals. Royals are competing in the senior extra small coed 6 division this year. Royals first became a team in 2018 and have lived in the hearts of many athletes who once competed on this team. Aftan Beladi, one of the head coaches of Royals, also co-owns the gym and has coached Royals for all 7 years. Two current athletes on Royals are Londyn Bales and Summer Calhoun. This is Londyn’s second year on Royals and Summer’s first year on Royals. 

Londyn and Summer have been cheering at Infinity for most of their lives, and they cheered together when they were younger. They both are excited to take The Cheerleading Worlds mat together for the first time.  

One part of Allstar cheerleading that cheerleaders love is the travel season. Infinity travel season starts in December and ends in April. They get to travel around the U.S. wearing big bows and sparkly uniforms. It’s their goal to try to get first place at as many competitions as possible. It’s almost every cheerleaders goal to be able to call themselves a World Champion.