Seneca College Soccer Standout and Guyana National Team Player Excels On and Off Field

By: Adam D’Addario

Shanice Alfred moved from Edmonton to Toronto to play for Guyana’s national soccer team. Along the way, she also starred for Seneca’s Women’s soccer team as well.

While attending MacEwan University in Edmonton,  she got a call from Guyana’s national team.  They were making a push for both the World Cup and Olympic qualifiers and they wanted her to play for them. Guyana’s international program is based out of Toronto. Alfred says, “my coach gave me a call, and I was still over in Alberta, and he asked me if I could move out to Toronto.” Alfred’s decision to make the move to Toronto introduced her to teammates, who also played for Seneca.

“I took the tour with them and met the coach. That’s how I ended up coming to Seneca.”

However, part of her playing career happened to align with the COVID-19 pandemic. “Soccer’s been my daily since I was young. So having everything on hold in 2020 was weird.”

The break from playing was actually a plus in one way.  Alfred was able to improve her performance academically. She says, “probably my best grades that I’ve had so far were during COVID.”

Back on the pitch the following year, Alfred won the ‘Women’s Soccer OCAA Central Division Player of the Year,’  in 2021.  Reflecting on that experience, Alfred says, “I was very surprised when that award came out for me. It was my first year here at Seneca, and we just came off that COVID year of not being able to play at all… That year we just played for fun, trying to rekindle that love for soccer that we missed for two years.”

Alfred studies Therapeutic Recreation at Seneca and says after college, she is going to try to land a spot on a professional women’s team. After living in Edmonton and Toronto, she says she would like to play “somewhere like Greece or New Zealand. Somewhere warm.”