TXST Women’s Soccer Standouts Balance Academics and International Play

As Texas State begins its first season in the Pac-12, the program’s 26-player roster includes nine internationals—from Japan, France, and Spain, along with Ghana and El Salvador. They bring different cultures, different perspectives and, in the case of Alormenu and Meza, the honor and challenge of representing their home countries while pursuing college degrees in Texas.

“It’s become more and more commonplace,” head coach Steve Holeman says of recruiting internationally. “Our job, as we see it, is to find the best players we can. We start with Texas, but we look throughout the U.S., we look at junior colleges, and we look internationally.”

Texas State’s international recruiting network reaches around the world. Sometimes players are discovered through recruiting services that connect international athletes with American universities. Other times, coaches travel to evaluate prospects in person at tournaments abroad or in the United States.

The coaching staff first learned about Alormenu, a midfielder, through a recruiting service while she was playing for Ghana’s Under-20 national team. Meza, who’s played defense, midfield, and attack, reached out to colleges herself, emailing TXST coaches with game schedules and videos of her games. “I sent a bunch of emails to a lot of colleges,” Meza says. “I sent them the links and the schedule so they could watch if they wanted to. Texas State reached out.”

It didn’t hurt that Meza was recommended by Juana Plata, a 2023 graduate and Bobcat soccer star who also plays for the Salvadoran national team. “Juana told us she was good and we should definitely try to get this player,” Holeman says. (Plata now plays professionally for Queretáro in Liga MX Femenil, the top Mexican women’s soccer league.) 

For Alormenu, the decision required faith. “I was just thinking, ‘Am I ready to leave my own country and go somewhere?’” she says. “It’s far from home, and I had to confirm with my mom if she was okay with that also.” 

There’s always an adjustment period for students leaving home to attend college, especially for international students who’ve never been to the United States before. But international players coalesce with the program naturally, Holeman says. 

“We have a very welcoming team, and that helps everyone feel at home,” he says. “They all have the common bond of soccer, and we’re working hard together to achieve common goals.” 

Meza and Alormenu have been important players for the Bobcats, especially as upperclassmen. Already this August as the 2026 season begins, Alormenu scored two second-half goals to lift the Bobcats to a 3-1 win over Baylor, marking the program's first-ever victory over a ranked opponent; and Meza scored two goals in the Bobcats' 3-2 win over Texas A&M, marking the program's first-ever win over an SEC program. Last season—when TXST won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament—Meza was named TXST Player of the Year and the Sun Belt Conference Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. For her part, Alormenu was honored as 2025 TXST Offensive MVP and All-Sun Belt Conference First Team. 

The players must balance their TXST obligations with national team call-ups. Those can occur several times each year, often requiring weeks away from campus for training camps, friendly matches, and World Cup or continental qualifying competitions. 

Since December, Meza has scored in two of three El Salvador games in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, helping her team qualify for the CONCACAF W Championship for the first time in its history. The W Championship, which will be held this fall in the U.S., will determine which teams from CONCACAF—the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football—will qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup next summer in Brazil.  

Alormenu played with the Ghanaian women’s Under-20 team in the Under-20 World Cup, held in Colombia in 2024. And over the summer, she was called up for training with the Black Queens, Ghana’s senior women’s side, before she returned to San Marcos for the start of the fall semester and the Bobcats’ season. 

Holeman says the coaching staff is lenient with players who play for their national teams. 

“We understand that when we recruit high-level players that represent their national teams, we’re always going to allow them to leave to go represent their country,” he says. “It’s an incredible honor to represent your country, so it just makes sense. It can be tough if they miss key games for TXST, but you’d rather have them for 15 of the 20 games as opposed to none of them if they didn’t come to school here.” 

The opportunity to play internationally also comes with the difficulty of missing classes, sometimes for weeks. Academic advisors in the TXST Athletics department work closely with student-athletes and faculty members to help students stay on track, but success often depends on individual professors’ attendance and makeup policies. 

“The balance of missing school is a big part,” Holeman says. “We’re missing school anyway with our regular season. Now you’re missing more with international duties.” 

Meza, an Exercise and Sports Science major, says some professors are more flexible than others when it comes to accommodating her absences. She does her best to work ahead. “I also talk to the professors to let me make up something I miss or to see if they can put something online.” 

International players also face the challenge of living far from their families and hometowns. 

Alormenu has not been home since moving to Texas three years ago. Even when she has traveled to Ghana to train and compete with the Black Queens, she’s never made it back to her hometown. She keeps in touch with her family through phone calls. “I do get homesick,” she says. 

Both players hope that soccer continues to be part of their futures. But as you might expect for players who chose to pursue college in the United States, neither Meza nor Alormenu intends to rely solely on athletics.  

Alormenu, a computer information systems major, says she’d like to play professionally in the U.S. or Europe, but she’s also interested in getting a professional internship related to her degree. Meza says she’s already received interest from professional clubs, but she has repeatedly opted to return to school and complete her degree. “I want to finish university,” she says. “As soccer goes, you can get injured. I want to have a backup plan too.” 

The stories of Meza and Alormenu illustrate why Texas State continues looking far beyond its own borders for talent. International players make the team better while sharing experiences and cultures that enrich their team and the university community. And on good days, they score goals. 

“It’s worth it,” Meza says. “Even if I play professionally, I would keep studying and earning licenses for my profession. Having the experience to be in college soccer, and studying, and also competing for the national team — trying to do it all in 24 hours — it gives you an idea of how to balance everything. And that’s important for the future if I want to do more than just soccer.”