Laser Spotlight: Ailaina Keely and Alyssa DeOliveira serve in United States Military

by Stephen Kemp

It takes a special kind of person to be a part of the United States military and everything that goes along with that. Both Lasell junior Ailaina Keely and incoming freshman Alyssa DeOliveira of the Laser women's soccer team have taken the opportunity to join the military during this Covid-19 affected year. 

Alaina was an important player for the Lasers during their 2019 campaign after transferring from Franklin Pierce University. But when Covid-19 canceled the season in 2020 she decided it was time to do something she had always thought about, which was join the military. With her military duties, she has taken the full year off of school because she would not have time to do both.

Before joining the military, Ailaina did not know if it would even be possible for her. When she was growing up, she would watch war movies which for the roles are male-dominated. These movies, Ailaina said, "made me question if I would be strong enough [to join the military] but, upon talking to more and more people, I realized I could do it."

She had originally planned on joining after college, but that all changed when the pandemic hit and canceled the season. After conversations with recruiters and with coach Vito La Francesca, she enlisted along with her brother. Her brother got the call first and five days later she got the call for the Air Force as well and they ended up going through boot camp together.

Just like on the field for the Lasers, Ailaina has become a very important member of the military following boot camp. When she graduated boot camp, it was with high remarks, and has performed extremely well in all aspects of her service so far. Currently, she is part of the Air National Guard and is doing on-the-job training with about a month or two left.

Coach La Francesca had great things to say about Ailaina as a player and person, saying she "is a greater leader, a great team player and a hard worker who leads by example." He is hopeful for her to return in the fall to be a key contributor to the Lasers in 2021. However, with her performance in the military thus far, she has been piquing the interest of those trying to pry her away full-time. The military police have been in talks with her because of her stellar performance throughout. Even with the offers of a full-time military career, Ailaina affirmed her want to play for La Francesca and the Lasers in the fall.

Alyssa graduated from high school in 2020 with the plan of coming to Lasell to play for the Laser women's soccer team in the fall. However, with the pandemic not getting much better, it forced many difficult decisions for schools, Lasell included. Fall sports were canceled and classes were predominately online. She had to decide if being in school for this year was in her best interest. As Alyssa said, "the military was always something that I knew I was going to do."

Covid-19 gave Alyssa the push she needed to join the military with the uncertainty surrounding how school would be for her freshman year. She joined the Army National Guard after graduating high school and knew she would be missing the first semester of school. With her basic training and boot camp happening during the fall, she decided it was best to push her enrollment to Lasell until the fall of 2021 and work part-time for the military.

Alyssa is looking forward to getting started with school at Lasell in the fall as well as getting her career started with the Lasers. She plans to be a full go in the fall, and while she has some weekend duty once a month, she hopes there will be no interference. 

Coach La Francesca is looking forward to getting Alyssa on campus. "[Alyssa] is a team player, very determined and always strives to be the best," he said. "She is one of the top players from the state of Rhode Island." 

As a Lasell community, we thank both Ailaina and Alyssa for their service to our country. We are lucky to have two extremely strong women as part of our women's soccer team. We look forward to having them both back on campus in the fall and seeing them compete on the field.

(Stephen Kemp is a Master's degree student at Lasell majoring in Sports Management, and a graduate assistant in the Athletic Communications Office)