ST GEORGE’S, Grenada — From the womb to the national team together. That is the unique situation twins Mikayla and Malikae Dayes have brought to the Reggae Girlz setup.

Unlike sisters Allyson and Chantelle Swaby, who are years apart, the Dayes siblings share the same birthday and basically the same personality.

However, much like the Swaby sisters, they aspire to make the World Cup dream a family affair.

The twins, who are seniors at the Maryland University, bring a certain level of flair to the senior women’s football setup, and they are hoping to bring those qualities to the fore in the Concacaf Women’s Championship qualifying campaign.

Born in Brompton, Canada, to parents Georgette and Humphrey — both Jamaican natives — Mikayla and Malikae were always determined to make it big in football.

For these 22-year-old girls, football has always been their passion, and their lifelong dream was to always produce inspiring performances and win plenty of accolades whenever they take the field and the bar has now been set higher with their football quest now aimed at international success.

It must truly be an amazing feeling when more than one child in a family plays on the same team, but for these girls it is nothing new as they both plied their trade together in the Toronto Blizzards where they were discovered by video analyst Sanford Corbin, who is also based in Canada.

And as fate would have it, they are now charting a course in the senior women’s programme.

Mikayla, a forward, first joined the team for the US Women’s Soccer Series in Houston last year June, but never featured as much.

However, she believes the timing is now right, as this opportunity will assist in her transition to the professional level.

“It’s really great to be here, the Girlz are very welcoming, its like a family here and it’s nice to play with players that are playing at such high levels professionally and its just fun getting to know them and their experiences,” she told the Jamaica Observer while enjoying the view at the Radisson Beach Hotel here.

“I feel like it’s a really great opportunity to be here playing in the World Cup qualifiers, we have aspired playing in a World Cup and so this kind of opens up the door for that to open and we just want to make the most of it,” she added.

For Mikayla, who describes herself as a dynamic player, rubbing shoulders with the talismanic Khadija “Bunny” Shaw makes the experience even that more terrific.

“I didn’t play my position (against Bermuda in Kingston), but it was actually fun playing in the midfield and getting the ball not just in attack but in the build up and I had fun playing with Bunny for the first time,” Mikayla beamed.

“I feel like it’s inspiring seeing where she comes from and where she is now it really shows you that hard work can take you where you want to go and I just want to watch her and learn a lot from her, while bringing my own quality to the team,” she shared.

Meanwhile, Malikae, who is defender, is in her first stint with the Girlz, and takes comfort in having her sister alongside her.

“Yeah, it’s nice because I didn’t know anyone, so having her here is really nice and it’s definitely a confidence booster because you have a little part of home with you,” Malikae said while flashing a smile.

For her, the opportunity to impress interim Head Coach Vinimore “Vin” Blaine is key, as he has stressed the significance of building a tight backline and she is hoping to fit into his plans beyond this phase of qualifying.

“Just being here would open alot of doors for us and it is a really good experience for us so I think we are definitely looking to be here for a long time.

“Playing with players professionally gives us a glimpse of what it will be like at that level because that’s one of our goals. So I feel like this is a dream come true being a part of such a good team with the potential of making another World Cup,” she reasoned.

While they both tried to deny it, a little sibling rivalry came to the fore in the shape of a healthy competition when the million dollar question was asked: ‘Who is better?

“We don’t really think about it like that because I don’t really see myself being a defender,” Mikayla said.

But Malikae, though a smart and aggressive defender, thought otherwise.

“I think I could make a pretty good forward though with a little time,” she noted, while ignoring a stare from her sister.

— Sherdon Cowan