Khronicles of Kale'a

When one comes out to a Towson University women’s soccer game, the player wearing the number seven shirt sticks out. It is apparent she has incredible pace on the left side of the pitch, and her natural left footedness provides a unique tactical strength that is hard for opposing defenders to counter, often leading to double teams.

What one does not see immediately is what the woman wearing the number seven shirt, Kale’a Perry, has gone through to arrive at Towson. From a top 100 high school recruit and standout in the Mid-Atlantic region, to COVID taking away one of her seasons, to the passing of a parent, to overcoming career-threatening injuries and finally landing at Towson, her harrowing journey is one for the annals of footballing lore. These are the Khronicles of Kale’a.

Khronicle 1: A Queen is Born

Perry was born Kale’a Ali I’kai Perry. Her name was prophetic for the rest of her life. Kale’a means joy or happiness. Ali I’kai means queen of the sea. 

“I love to see people laugh, to bring joy to others in different ways,” Perry said. “I enjoy seeing people radiate with joy, with that kind of energy. It also brings my spirit to life a little bit to see others in a good mood and just enjoying life.”

On the pitch, her joy is expressed in her creativity on the ball. After she carves up the defense, slots a ball into the upper 90 and gets to express her joy, the meaning of “Kale’a” truly shows.

Her joy spreads through her to her teammates. Emely Rubio, who assisted four of Perry’s seven non-penalty kick goals during the 2025 season and plays with her on their summer league team says, “[Perry] was the first person to make me feel welcomed at Towson by connecting me through her sense of humor. It made transitioning to Towson as a transfer way easier to handle. It brings me so much joy to know that I have someone here at Towson who is in my corner all the time. She always makes me laugh at practice.”

The Queen of the Sea created one of her core memories at the beach with her dad, Antone Perry Sr. The Waldorf, Md. native would go to the beach with her dad where they would fish and learn how to crab. Her whole family would go out to the beach and enjoy the sea.

“There are qualities of being ‘Queen of the Sea’ of overruling some of the chaos that might be in my life,” Perry said.

As the youngest of three children in her immediate family, Perry grew up with two role models. The eldest Perry is Aolani, who is four years Kale’a’s senior. Aolani’s name means heavenly cloud, like Kale’a it is rooted in Hawaiian tradition. Her brother Antone Jr., two years Kale’a’s senior, carried her dad’s name. Her siblings became key in her athletic development. 

Khronicle 2: The Queen Finds Her Space to Rule

Growing up, the Perry siblings competed in anything they could, taking after their parents’ athleticism. Kale’a’s mom, Diane, competed in track and field at Penn State and her dad played football at Virginia Union University. This substantial athleticism in her house led Perry to take up many sports. She followed in her parent’s footsteps playing basketball and running track. She also competed in gymnastics, lacrosse, step and dance but one sport stood out to her, soccer. 

“I realized at a very young age that I could pursue sports long term,” Perry said. "Both my parents were so athletic, and they trained so hard as well. It showed me the commitment and discipline that you must have within yourself to work hard for all that you want to accomplish.”

As Perry looked up to her siblings, her passion for soccer grew. “I was the youngest,” Perry said. "I would always watch my siblings and want to be part of what they were doing. I had a lot of fun playing with my siblings and they pushed me to compete in a sport. I wanted to compete because I wanted to beat them. I wanted to cook them!”

In other sports, like basketball, which her sister excelled in, Perry thought she was falling behind but when she stepped on the pitch things changed. Her brother was also a standout in soccer and eventual NCAA soccer player at California (PA). Watching her siblings pave the way in athletics allowed Perry to see her own path form.

“My siblings laid out a foundation that makes it a little bit easier for me to come into. It was the best way for them to show their sibling love and I really appreciate it. It helped guide my love for soccer,” Perry said. “My parents also spent so much time and attention with us, working out, sending us to trainers and stuff like that. They took the time to show us the love we need from them as parents.”

As Perry began to develop, she took on new challenges. Forever looking up to her siblings, she joined her brother on the pitch. Antone Jr. was playing under Danny Bullis. Kale’a was transitioning from rec soccer to the next level and couldn’t find a solid home. Bullis allowed her to train alongside her brother. “It’s not something that is normal for girls to do,” Perry said. “[Bullis] made it a space where I could feel comfortable and have that drive to work hard.”

One of the formative trainers in Perry’s journey is Greg Harris. Harris trained Perry when she was young and immediately recognized her talent on and off the pitch. Perry notes Harris’ ability to push her to be the best person in all aspects of life. “He made some of my trainings very difficult, both mentally and physically. There were times when I felt like I wasn’t going to come back or be the best player I could be and he saw the potential in me. He was on me to get after it,” Perry said.

The most transformative moments between Perry and Harris came off the pitch. Before trainings Harris would sit down and learn more about Perry, what she wanted in her life, her goals as a person. Harris would show up to her games and cheer her on from the sidelines. This resonated with Perry. “I don’t know of any trainer that would actually come out and watch. He was always there for me when I needed it,” Perry said.

With all the help of her family and coaches, Perry began to be noticed by the soccer world. She was rated a four-star recruit and ranked the No. 67 player in the country by her sophomore season in high school. Opposing coaches would come up to her after the game. One of those coaches was Val Teixeira. “I remember playing against her, she was in the same age group that I was coaching at the time. I was really interested in bringing her over to my team, but she was with Maryland United at the time,” Teixeira said.

“After the game Val came up to me and was saying I’m a really good player, just phenomenal. He was really praising me and being so young I was eating it up,” Perry recalls of her interaction with Teixeira.

Perry continued her high school journey at Bishop McNamara with significant attention from all over the country. She wrapped up her senior year as the No. 8 player in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Perry earned All-Western Catholic Athletic Conference first team honors twice, Washington Post All-Metro first team and earned state Gatorade Player of the Year consideration. After some thought, Perry started her collegiate journey at VCU. She was set to start NCAA soccer in 2020.

Khronicle 3: College and COVID

Enrolling at a university in the middle of COVID was a strain for all. It was no different for Perry at VCU. She chose the Richmond, Va. university in part due to its proximity to home, just under 80 miles as the crow flies from her hometown Waldorf, Md. With a high school teammate joining her at VCU it felt like the correct fit but like many things during the pandemic, Perry’s life was far from normal.

“With how much COVID impacted my admission to VCU, it just felt like I didn’t have the foundation I needed to actually go into school prepared,” Perry said. “I couldn’t connect with many people or other teams.”

Perry made the best of a difficult situation. She connected with her teammates, kept pushing herself on the pitch and perfecting her craft. Perry earned Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognition. She played in some intersquad games with VCU, but she needed to find her new joy.

“It was tough being in a new environment and a completely unique situation with COVID,” Perry said. “I wanted to be the best version of myself, and I did everything in my power to do so, but I felt the best way to do that was to find a new home.”

Perry entered the portal looking for a new spot to land.

Khronicle 4: Landing at Lipscomb

After entering the transfer portal, Perry found her way to Nashville and Lipscomb University. She was drawn to Lipscomb by head coach Kevin O’Brien and the ability to return to a private, religious school like when she was at Bishop McNamara.

“Coming from McNamara, which was a Catholic school, it sounded cool to go to a Christian university. I was open to exploring my faith,” Perry said. “Coming into the team at Lipscomb I had a whole different way of thinking, a whole different lifestyle. These girls, my teammates, were gifts and had such an amazing heart posture.”

The change of scenery proved beneficial for Perry. In less than 90 minutes on the pitch with Lipscomb, Perry scored her first collegiate goal. Her third game of her freshman season was at Miami, and she scored again in another Bisons victory. Perry came out for her fourth consecutive game and start, this time against FIU. She scored less than 10 minutes into the game. Perry was back.

Then devastation hit. Perry suffered an ACL tear in the first half of the game against FIU. “It was the start of devastation. I haven’t ever been in a position where I didn’t have soccer,” Perry said. "I didn’t have my passion, the thing I really enjoyed.”

It was in this moment where the Lipscomb community came through. Perry would still show up to team events and her relationship with God grew. “That whole first year I just learned about Him. It felt like God had removed soccer so that I had no distractions from Him. I learned more about the girls and the team, about who they were. I didn’t expect that I was even available to grow in those ways,” Perry said.

Perry took that year to reflect, to grow on and off the pitch, and came back better than ever. In her sophomore campaign, Perry finally started to show everyone what earned her the recognition she received in high school. In her second game of the 2022 season, she put one in the back of the net, followed up with a brace against Alabama State in just 24 minutes of playing time and added a three-point effort at Central Arkansas. Perry ended her season with three assists in the final two games en route to All-ASUN first team and third team All-Region honors.

Perry’s family came out to watch her play when Lipscomb took on Vanderbilt. Perry had so much joy with her mom, dad and brother being in town. She assisted on the goal that brought the teams level in the 1-1 draw. Even with all this success coming, Perry’s distance from home started to wear on her. It became even more stark during that game. 

“I faced a lot of internal battles being far away from home and not really knowing what was going on with my dad at home battling cancer,” Perry said. “I always saw my dad as a very strong, very confident man and I could tell the treatment was affecting him.”

The decision was made after the season that Perry was going to leave the team. While relocating back home, her dad passed away. 

Khronicle 5: Continuing the Legacy of Antone Perry Sr.

Antone Perry Sr. was known for many things. He was a superb athlete. He played football at Virginia Union and was recruited by Boston University for basketball. His greatest legacy is in his kids. Kale’a says, “He had a heart of humility to be there when I needed him to be there. He would show up to my games and cheer me on all the time. He always showed up for me as a dad.”

Antone was first diagnosed with cancer during Kale’a’s freshman year of high school, but it didn’t slow him down. He was still competing in Ironman competitions. He was still training with his kids across all sports. Nothing was going to stop him from doing what he wanted to do.

Kale’a left for Lipscomb and while the team was great, there was a disconnect from her family with the distance from home. When her family showed up to the game against Vanderbilt, Kale’a immediately noticed something was wrong with her father. He would pass early in 2023.

“My start to 2023 was tragic,” Kale’a said. "There were a lot of hard truths that I had to accept at a point that was really dark in my life. My goals and stuff I had in my mind were just like, ‘What is the point anymore?’ I just had to be conditioned to this new way of life.”

After leaving Lipscomb, Perry returned to her home state and played on the club team at the University of Maryland. She was back up on her feet and finding her love for soccer again. As she was looking for people to train with and further advance her skills, Perry’s mom reminded her of the coach that introduced himself to her back when she was in high school, Val Teixeira.

“[Perry] reached out to me less than a year after her dad passed away,” Teixeira said. “The email she sent was very touching. It definitely caught my attention, and I told her ‘I’m willing to help you as much as I can because I know how important it would be for your dad to see you play at the highest level.’ I would open the doors for her, and she came to play for us in the summer.”

Teixeira, himself a Portuguese international like Perry's father, took Perry under his wing to keep stewarding her after the loss of her father. “I went along the same path, needing someone to look after me,” Teixeira said. “Learning that her father was Portuguese made it even better as far as a kid I needed to look after because she needed that guidance as a coach and mentor. We wanted to bring that joy back to her, to see her having fun on the field and her family see her do what she loves to do.”

Perry joined Teixeira’s team. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Maryland and was looking for a new NCAA home. Perry knew she wanted to remain close to home and turned to Teixeira for guidance. “I’ve known the Towson coaches for a long time,” Teixeira said. “They’ve had a few players of mine that went there and they were very successful. I thought it was the right move for her to stay close to the people that care about her and would be helping her in the long run.”

Khronicle 6: Towson Time

The recruitment process to Towson started with Teixeira reaching out to Towson head women's soccer coach Katherine Vettori about Perry. Vettori went out to watch a few games and asked Teixeira about her character. “[Perry] and I started talking. We talked for about three months. I wanted to get to know her as the human she was before making any decisions. I figured out she is a winner,” Vettori said.

“Coming into Towson, Katherine had a heart posture of I care first for who my players are then what my player can provide for my team,” Perry said. “She opened a space for me to grow into being me again. I was still growing, still healing and she opened a place for me to be me.” Perry joined the Tigers for the 2024 season.

“She was on my radar for close to a decade being in the Maryland soccer scene,” Vettori said. “I watched her as a youth player and saw her impressive speed and that left foot is special.”

There was an immediate impact in her first season at Towson. Perry started all 19 games that season and earned All-Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Third Team honors. In her second season, she scored a point in 11 of 16 games and earned All-CAA First Team honors for her effort.

Perry’s speed and one-on-one abilities, combined with her natural left footedness, makes her dangerous on the pitch. “Her speed is at a level that is faster than a lot of NWSL players,” Vettori said. “She came here and improved her defensive work rate so she’s playing well on both sides of the ball. I walk up into the stands and fans say, ‘Hey, coach! Number seven is special!’ I always think to myself, ‘I know!’ You don’t see a lot of 1v1 specialists like her.”

“I have the utmost love and respect for Katherine because she shows up for her girls,” Perry said. “I really appreciate that from her because it helped me fall in love with the team, the culture and the girls.”

The most remarkable part about Perry’s journey at Towson is it is not over quite yet. She was granted an extra year and will be returning to Towson for the 2026 season.

Khronicle 7: Cementing the Perry Legacy

Perry is poised for the upcoming season of Towson soccer. She has been staying in shape, focusing on becoming the best footballer she can become.

“She’s super strong in the weight room and she can jump through the roof,” Vettori said. "She shatters all the records for speed work.”

This summer she is honing her skills with Racing Power FC in the summer league. The club is run by Teixeira and has fellow Towson teammates Emely Rubio, Sydney Feiler and Teagan Gardner on the team.

“She’s the type of player you want on your team because she’ll bring that happiness to everyone,” Teixeira said. "The team looks up to her because she’s the type of kid that wants to help everyone on the field. She is always smiling and doing little dances and celebrations. You can tell there is so much joy she brings to the pitch.”

Kale’a truly lives up to her name.

“I think if she has a really strong year in the CAA she can get to that next level,” Vettori said. "Ever since she set her sights on going pro, she began to really focus on the smaller things. She puts just as much effort into her training as she does into her sleep, her nutrition and her recovery.”

Perry’s summer league team, Racing Power FC, is a direct feeder to the pro club in Portugal that competes in the Campeonato Nacional Feminino, the highest level of Portuguese women’s football. During her first stint with the club, Perry’s ability was immediately noticed by the club’s leadership.

“She’s got tremendous space and skill with the ball,” Teixeira said. “The only way to stop her is by following her. She knows how to use her strength; she’s not only fast but also strong. She can pull the trigger with a lot of pace and shoot the ball with a lot of velocity. She’s the type of player with a winning mentality and confidence that is very unique. There aren’t many players that have the confidence to go after players once, twice, three times, four times, as many times as need and prove that they’re better than you.”

“She’s always talking about this timeline she has, the goals she wants to achieve,” Rubio said. "She’s making goals and consistently hitting them. That’s a good pattern she is showing.”

When the college season starts in August, Perry will put on the Towson number seven shirt. She will put on her boots, equipping her potent left foot. She will walk onto the pitch and dominate the left side of the offensive third. The Queen of the Sea will move her reign to the pitch carrying with her the trials and tribulations, the memory of her father and the ability to persevere through whatever may come her way.