It should be no surprise when looking at the national team roster for Guyana to see Kayla De Souza's name.
 
She has played in Olympic qualifiers and is now in the midst of CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying with Guyana, holding a 2-1-0 record heading into their final pool play match against Trinidad and Tobago, who currently sits atop Group F. Kick-off is 6 p.m. tonight.
 
The former Ontario Tech women's soccer star has been playing with the Guyanese senior team since 2009 as a founding member. De Souza played two seasons with the Ridgebacks and was an OUA all-star in 2014, the year Ontario Tech won an OUA bronze medal and advanced to the U SPORTS championship for the first time in program history.
 
"Competing within the OUA provided me with the opportunity to play soccer at the highest level on the collegiate side," she said. "The training and game environment mirrors similarities found within a national team program. It was an environment that demanded physical fitness and overall high-level performance both in season and during the off-season."
 
Since her time with the Ridgebacks, she has stayed with the Guyanese national team, while balancing coaching, a full-time job and playing at the highest level possible within Ontario. Since 2015 she has been playing in League1 Ontario for Pickering FC until 2021 when she joined Vaughan SC.
 
While the national team players aren't together regularly, all players have a strict fitness program they are expected to complete alongside what each player is doing in their club training environment. The expectation helps to ensure when the team comes together, they are fit and only need to focus on the technical and tactical aspect of the game.
 
Click here for more information on CONCACAF women's Women's World Cup Qualifying.