Alexa Spaanstra

Club career Kansas City Current The Kansas City Current selected Spaanstra tenth overall in the first round of the 2023 NWSL Draft. She was signed to a two-year rookie contract. On March 23, she made her professional debut in the season opener, starting in a 1–0 loss to the North Carolina Courage. On October 7, she scored her first professional goal as the Current won 6–3 over the Chicago Red Stars. She scored again the following week as the season ended with a 2–2 draw to NJ/NY Gotham FC and was recognized for her performances as the NWSL Rookie of the Month for September/October 2023. She finished her rookie season with 21 appearances and 2 goals in all competitions. Two weeks later, she scored her first goal of the season in a 4–2 win over Angel City FC. She played in the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, which Kansas City won. Through the summer break, she made 15 appearances and scored 1 goal in all competitions.

Portland Thorns On August 19, 2024, Spaanstra was traded to Portland Thorns FC for $25,000 in intraleague transfer funds and $15,000 in allocation money. She debuted for the club the following week in a 2–0 loss to Gotham FC. she scored her first goal for the club in a 6–0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite, clinching a place in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup semifinals. She finished the season with 12 appearances and 1 goal in all competitions, losing 2–1 to Gotham FC in the playoff quarterfinals. She started both playoff matches as the Thorns won 1–0 over the San Diego Wave in the quarterfinals, then lost 2–0 to the Washington Spirit in the semifinals. She made her debut later that day in a 2–1 loss to the San Diego Wave. On July 24, the Royals announced that the club had made the move permanent for $25,000 in intraleague transfer funds with potential add-ons worth $7,500.

International career

Spaanstra trained with the United States youth national team beginning at the under-14 level in May 2013. She was called up to the national under-17 team in August 2014 to play friendlies in South Korea and trained with both the under-17 and under-20 teams in August 2015, aged 15. She helped the United States win the 2016 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship and competed at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. She led the national under-19 team to win a tournament in China in September 2017 and was recognized as the tournament's most valuable player. While in college, she competed at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and won the 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. She first played with the national under-23 team at an NWSL preseason tournament in February 2022.

Career statistics

Honors and awards

International

United States U-17: CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship: 2016 United States U-20: CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship: 2020

Club

FC Kansas City: 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup

College Virginia Cavaliers: Atlantic Coast Conference: 2021

Individual First-team All-ACC: 2020 Second-team All-ACC: 2019, 2021 Third-team All-ACC: 2018, 2022 NCAA tournament top scorer: 2020 ACC tournament all-tournament team: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021