Jeffrey Hinkle is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Williams Field High School for AZPreps365.com

Sometimes siblings can bring on a rivalry.

Other times they bring out the best in you.

At Williams Field High School, twins Kennedie and Kendall Amarillas push each other to get better on and off the court.

“Everything we do is a competition,” Kendall said.

Kennedie quickly added that, “there’s a lot of beating each other down to get better.” 

The two sophomores both started out in dance, but Kennedie quickly moved on to volleyball while Kendall stuck to dance and cheer. To say the least, each one is familiar with the other’s sport.

“I actually tried a volleyball clinic,” Kendall said. “But Kennedie was my coach so I was like ‘this is not for me, if my sister is gonna be coaching.’”

Williams Field athletic director Darrell Stangle raved about how the two  excel both in school and athletics. 

“They’re great at what they do, and they’re great people on top of it,” Stangle said. “That’s what makes them special.” 

Game days look a little hectic in the Amarillas house.

When Kennedie and Kendall have events overlapping, their mom will go with Kendall and take care of all the makeup and hairdressing, while their dad will go with Kennedie to her volleyball game.

Alongside their dad, Kennedie’s grandparents cheer her on almost exclusively.

“Our grandparents are at every volleyball game no matter what,” Kendall admitted. “They’re very much volleyball people.”

When either girl has a day off, you might find them cheering on their sibling. Kendall admits to sitting in the student section at most of Kennedie’s volleyball matches. 

“If a serve goes bad I’m not afraid to stand up and say ‘What are you doing?’” Kendall said.

Kennedie quickly added, “I basically just tell her ‘hey, that just wasn’t good.’ I’m not that trained to critique her.”

So who is better at their sport?

They both agreed that while their two sports are very different, Kennedie is the better athlete between the two.

“She’s definitely better at her sport than I am at mine,” Kendall said. “My dad makes her do more than I do. She works out more, she goes to training more. I quit at the studio stage, and she’s still in club volleyball.”

Kennedie added, “My dad is super sporty. You workout everyday, you play volleyball every day. I just do so much training that I would probably say it’s me.”

Along with each girl’s answer was a little laugh. They like to stay humble, but realize each of them put out so much effort that they really have no choice but to be proud of what they’ve accomplished.  

Although their paths started out in the same dance class, once they found what they truly loved, they excelled and exceeded all expectations, while remaining humble.

Overall, the siblings enjoy having someone there to help them get better. Both of them admit that without the other, they wouldn’t be where they are today.