“Things happen for a reason, don't they?”

Alexa's life has been shaped by her resilience and her passion for football

In Quintana Roo, southeast Mexico, between the beaches, archaeological sites and Mayan ruins, as in any place fascinated by the ball, stories are knitted around the game.  

Alexa Viera has found the balance between letting herself go where football leads her and holding on to what she loves to build her life.    

She grew up on the peninsula, in a family of athletes that inspired her to start playing. From the age of four with her brother after watching him at training, and later with her sister on the university team. 

They were the foundations on which Alexa was able to build a career in sports and where she was able to recharge when needed the most. Alexa makes it clear: "The support of your family is key because they are there for you at all times, especially in difficult times."   

From the age of 13, she began to travel to tournaments closer to the capital.  

ln the Yucatan peninsula, it is difficult to find competitions (even more difficult for girls), and if the end goal is to capture the attention of a scout, Mexico City provides the opportunity.  

So, Alexa did, and her first call-up for a training camp with the Mexican national team arrived.  

A trip to the national team's facilities would become frequent. Training camps, events and tournaments from time to time.  

"It was the best thing to be there, to train with them, to be with other people from other regions... My most beautiful memory as a footballer is when I was at camp with the Mexican U15 national team in the summer and suddenly they spoke to my mum and asked her if I had a passport." 

The Mexican U15s went to an international tournament in Argentina and Uruguay, Alexa was called up and spent the whole summer with the top team. They ended up winning the tournament.    

Her playing career was looking promising until a knee injury at 20 overturned her plans.  

“I lost a lot of time,” she said. 

 A poor recovery, countless therapy sessions, several treatments, and relapses led her to start all over again. 

“I decided to take a break because I was afraid of the surgery and as things were not very clear, it took me almost a year to recover.”  

The break became definitive and meant a turning point in her career and life. 

“I was watching a football match, and a referee was absent, and they asked me, ‘Don't you want to come in?’ Well, ok." 

Accidentally, or because it was meant to be, Alexa discovered a new dimension to football.  

Being a referee allowed her to stay connected to the sport she loves and, as always, she was aiming for the top.  

“I was the first professional female referee.”

Entering a sphere so different from her past as a footballer ‘made her understand many things’, she learned to make decisions more quickly and helped to assimilate that everything happens for a reason.  

She felt fulfilled again. 

“I was in the third division, second division and Liga MX at the beginning. I've been in some very attractive games; I was in a derby between Tigres and Rayadas and a final at the Azteca Stadium.”   

Alexa combined her new-found calling with a quite different thing: coaching girls.  

Again, by chance, or perhaps because “things happen for a reason, don't they?”  

In 2020, Alexa arrived as a coach at Girls United FA. This organisation empowers girls and gives them development opportunities through football. 

Besides the teams, Girls United FA has trainings and workshops to develop women coaches. The focus is on gender equity but also on uniting local communities and giving equal access to football in both their Mexico and London branches.  

“My dad was asked to train the girls, and he said he didn’t want to, but his daughter did.”  

“The process of preparing myself as a coach helped me to understand everything my coaches wanted me to learn.” 

“Patience is the basis of what I can do and learning that not all players are the same. Each one has a different way of learning.” 

“Knowing that I must have different ways of communicating what I want them to understand". 

In Alexa’s girls’ team, the oldest is 14 years old, and although it has been a while since Alexa was wearing the boots, things have not progressed much in the region in terms of the development of women's sports. Or mixed tournaments, or no age restriction tournaments.  

Having no girl-only league is a challenge that she faces but also uses as an opportunity to show a similar picture that the girls will encounter in the real world, encouraging them not to let that stop or change them.    

“The truth is that not much progress has been made in terms of being more inclusive and less sexist in the game.” 

“Now that I'm studying to be a coach, I'm still the only woman, and the atmosphere is heavy.” 

“I try to let it go in one ear and out the other when they make jokes. That part should have changed by now, but I always focus on my own, on what I want, on learning, on studying, and I try to ignore those parts.” 

As she prepares to earn the top licenses that will allow her to coach professional football, Alexa is changing the culture from the ground up.  

Giving the girls a safe place, creating a different vision from which to experience the game and convincing the girls' parents that a new way of living the sport is possible.  

“There have been jokes and comments that parents sometimes want to respond to, but they remember what we are creating, and they put up with it, breathe and continue to support.”  

Alexa Viera emphasises a lot on and off the pitch that progress should be measured through self-growth, not one-off victories. Her career backs that up. 

You can't take away the fun part of football, but neither can you take away the discipline and life lessons that come with it. 

Football, as she shares, teaches you to believe, to sacrifice, to grow and to make decisions that get you in those places you could hardly imagine you would be.  

Football is about people.  

“It teaches you to value people.” 

“The ones that are going to take you on the right path with you, or the path that you want. It teaches you the people that are going to support you. I think that's the word, isn't it?”  

For her, it is so important to open the door to opportunities for many more girls so that they don't miss out on the adventure that starts and ends following a ball.  

“It depends on what the girl wants to become. That's the important thing, to start opening the doors.”  

And when asked about a possible future as a professional coach, Alexa answers with the same confidence as her early days: “We're going to be there; I’m going to be there for sure.”  

She challenged football and the circumstances that shaped her career. She challenged her competition, and the stereotypes around her. She challenged herself and, perhaps that was the most enriching.  

But it's not over yet.