Alexa Spaanstra

About

Alexa Christine Spaanstra (born February 1, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a right winger or right back for the Utah Royals of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Virginia Cavaliers, where she was a five-time All-ACC selection. She was drafted by the Kansas City Current in the first round of the 2023 NWSL Draft and has also played for the Portland Thorns. Internationally, she played for the United States youth national team, winning CONCACAF tournaments at the under-17 and under-20 levels.

Spaanstra was born and raised in Brighton, Michigan, the older of two children born to Andrea and Scott Spaanstra. Her father played college basketball for the Northern Michigan Wildcats, and her mother ran track at Aquinas College. Spaanstra joined the Michigan Hawks at the under-11 level, helping the team win ECNL national titles in 2014 and 2017 and finish runners-up in the years between. She was also a competitive sprinter, winning a national 200-meter dash at age 10 and lettering in track at Brighton High School. She was ranked by TopDrawerSoccer as the No. 7 recruit of the class of 2018.