FEATURE
Holli Boyce and Kaylee Whitfield Looked Like Seasoned Veterans at Their Nationals Debut
The duo from Anaheim, California, won a gold medal in Women’ s Doubles 4.0 / 40-49 division.
By STEVE DRUMWRIGHT
RED LINE EDITORIAL
As schoolteachers and moms, it can be tough for Holli Boyce and Kaylee Whitfield to find time to play pickleball, much less have their schedules match up to do so.
However, the Anaheim, California, residents might try to play more often after their performance at the 2025 USA Pickleball National Championships.
Boyce and Whitfield, former high school classmates, made an overwhelming impression at their first national tournament, storming through the women’ s doubles 4.0 / 40-49 bracket to earn a gold medal at the Barnes Tennis Center.
Even as the bracket’ s No. 1 seed, they were surprised by their performance. In four matches, they never allowed more than seven points and cruised in the gold-medal match, scoring the first nine points en route to a 15-6 triumph over No. 6 seed Jennifer Conover and Mandy Thoburn, who hail from the Cleveland, Ohio, area.
“ We really practice a lot— a lot of hard work, coming together and being positive with each other and communicating,” Boyce said.“ It means a lot to us. To get gold, it’ s amazing.”
While getting a Golden Ticket to Nationals is tough enough, Boyce and Whitfield had to find a tournament that didn’ t conflict with their other responsibilities: family and work. That took them down to Tucson, Arizona, in late March.
“ We both have young kids and we’ re trying to work around their soccer schedules and other sports schedules,” Whitfield explained.“ So that weekend worked out.”
While they knew each other in high school, Boyce and Whitfield weren’ t friends then. Yet they both pursued careers in teaching. Similarly, they married guys who worked together in one of the school districts. The husbands were friends and got the former classmates together.
Neither played pickleball, though. That didn’ t come until the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, when pickleball became a safe and fun activity to enjoy while social distancing.
Unlike a lot of pickleball players, Boyce and Whitfield don’ t play at a club. In fact, most of their time is spent at the backyard court of one of Boyce’ s friends. So, playing at a venue with 60 courts and 287 divisions was certainly a step into the unknown for them. But they handled it just fine.
“ We at least have had experience as far as tournament exposure, but it does add a different layer having a referee at
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