Paciencia y Fe: a conversation with Ale Puerto
Get to know the rising star!
I had the chance to interview Ale Puerto recently. She is a rising star with the Honduran Women’s National Team and plays collegiate soccer at Fairmont State University in the United States. We discussed how she started playing, her journey to the US, playing for her national team, and some of her plans and dreams on and off la cancha. You may be wondering about the title of the article…more on that in a bit.
From Potras in Colón to Breaking Records in Cumberland
Ale Puerto was born in La Ceiba, Honduras but grew up in the department of Colón - a beautiful region on the northern coast of the country. Like most children in Latin America, she grew up around the game - watching her dad, brothers, and cousins, “My whole family was influenced by futbol” she told me.
Soon enough, she jumped in and began playing with her family in the backyard. In Honduras, these backyard and neighborhood games are referred to as potras. She had no cleats or soccer clothes, but it didn’t matter - she just wanted to play!
Unfortunately, the desire to play did not always equate with opportunities to do so. Ale told me, “You know how in Honduras, there's like a lot of machismo and it was like, you were a girl, you can't play, this sport is for guys. So I grew up on that…my school did not have girls that played soccer. I was the only one.” In some cases, boys would tell her to join in but others would stop her from playing simply because she was a girl. This was disappointing for Ale.
In addition to being excluded by machismo, her mother was also worried about her playing. Ale’s father had a bad injury during his playing career and her mother was understandably scared that the same would happen to her daughter. As she reached her teen years, Ale only had the chance to play potras, but her opportunity to begin playing organized soccer had opened up in the United States.
This opportunity to attend Bishop Walsh High School in Cumberland, Maryland also came with some tradeoffs - Ale had to go to a new country on her own. She told me, “It was a really harsh transition since I came here by myself…I was 14, of course, it’s gonna be hard.” Despite the difficulties of leaving one’s country, young Ale knew the impact could be exponential, “I could open doors for more girls back in Honduras so I was ready for the transition.”
Having spent several years of my life close to Cumberland, I knew that there weren’t many Hondurans (let alone Spanish speakers) in the area. I asked her about the culture shock and the language barrier. It required a lot of resilience. Going to a new high school is hard enough, but to be on your own with a new host family that you can’t communicate with, that’s intimidating.
Beyond the need to learn English for school and everyday life, soccer was also a motivation. She explained, “It was also really hard because I couldn't speak English. English is my second language…but I wanted to learn English to communicate with my teammates.”
Amidst all these huge life changes, the pitch was a safe haven. Being able to move from pick-up games to organized soccer was a great experience for her, “that was a game changer to me because my coaches influenced me to be like a better player every day, so I had hand pushing me and saying, hey, you gotta keep going, you gotta work hard because this is not the end of your career, there is more that you can grow.” Not only was it a game-changer for Ale, but it propelled Bishop Walsh to new heights.
Over her four years there, she amassed 94 goals and 16 assists in just 45 games including 48 goals in her senior year that earned her the area's Player of the Year! In a great article detailing her high school career, her coach explained:
“She could score at will, she was a great teammate…But I can take 5% of the credit for coaching her. She came here as a ninth-grader, did very well, then improved as a 10th and 11th-grader. She's a great teammate and was a tremendous leader as one of our captains…I know just through talking to coaches when they played us, they planned for her, they'd double-mark her, but it didn't matter. If she wanted the ball, she was getting it…she could flip it on or off like a switch. I'd look at her, and she'd look at me, and I'd say, 'You got one in ya?" and she'd say, 'I got two.’”
Life as a Student Athlete
Her historic career at Bishop Walsh caught the attention of college coaches from around the area and this opened up new dreams for Ale!
“So it wasn't in my plans when I first came…then I knew there was a really high chance of probably getting to college…that's not really easy for us to do back home. Because some other people just finish high school and they go and work. You don't go to college often…then I started looking up colleges and things that I could do. And then I realized that I had an option to play college futbol and also study at the same time. So, of course, I want to do this now because I have the opportunity to do what I love…which is studying and playing football”
Towards the end of her time at Bishop Walsh, she had the opportunity to practice with the Fairmont State team, and their coach, Kernell Borneo, attended some of her high school games. In addition to enjoying time with their team, Ale was drawn to Fairmont State because of its smaller size (~3,000 students).
While her talents could have taken her to larger schools, she felt more comfortable with smaller class sizes. She committed to their team and in just 2 years, she has made a huge impact!
In her freshman year, she tallied 7 goals and 6 assists and those included 4 game-winning goals. One of those game-winners came in the conference semi-finals. This conference rival knew how she played and they had a player marking her the entire game - she wasn’t able to make much of an impact, “I was waiting for that exact moment to do something.”
That moment arrived in the dying embers of the game as her team executed a play they had worked on in training. She used her pace to get behind the defense, and a teammate played a perfect ball over the top. Ale’s initial header was denied but she followed her shot and buried it to win the game!
“I couldn't believe it…I didn't even celebrate. All I did was sprint back to my position to start again. And then my teammates came to hug me. And I was like, Guys, I don't know what to do. Is this real? So it was a pretty good moment, an exciting moment for me and the team” she explained. See the goal below!
Her consistent performances that year earned her second-team all-conference and all-regional honors!
In addition to everything she does on the field at Fairmont State, Ale is just as busy off the pitch as a student. As she explained, it wasn’t just a dream to play in college but to study as well. On how hard it is to balance athletic performance with succeeding in the classroom, she explained, “It's really hard…it's really hard to do school and then transition to do futbol because you have to find the time. You have to have good time management to do that.”
Currently studying healthcare management, she is hoping to go into the nursing program next year. “I want to play pro after college, I want to have my degree just in case it doesn't work out because we never know” Ale shared. This is the tension many student-athletes have to wrestle with - they want to play professionally but those opportunities may not come or may not last. As she shared about her desire to be a nurse if soccer doesn’t work out, I realized that being a futbolista is not her identity.
Grounded in Faith
Ale is rooted in her faith. Whether it is sharing encouragement from scripture on social media, or deflecting praise thrown her way to God, her faith in Christ is central to her life. She explained that she grew up going to church with her mom and her Abuela - she was raised in the faith and that faith became her own.
During our conversation, and other interviews she has given, it is clear she isn’t relying on her success for validation (even though she has had so much of it in the last few years for college and country). Her validation comes from above.
“The person I am today is because of God. The player I am today is because of God. It's because I'm putting Him first before anything, before my career, before me.”
She shares openly and boldly about this trust and from my perspective, it is because of the peace that it has brought. So many of us, not just athletes, struggle with identity. We try to find it in our work, our talents, and our treasures but it’s never enough.
It was refreshing to see a young athlete with this perspective. Because she is grounded in this faith, a good or bad game won’t inform her identity. That is a huge weight off of one’s shoulders in a sporting world that is constantly asking “What have you done for me lately?” It’s something she has had to lean on representing Honduras as well.
Finding her place with La H
In 2023, Ale intended to spend the summer playing in the WPSL with a team in Texas. Shortly after her arrival, the situation became untenable. The coach was a disaster and was not treating the players well - unfortunately, this is an all too common occurrence in the women’s game. In the end, Ale, along with 8 other players, left the team.
This terrible experience coincided with needing to renew her visa, so Ale went back to Honduras. A few years prior, she had connected with former women’s national team manager Fernando Banegas (you can find our interview with him below). He wanted her to try out with the team but because she was in the United States training with her college team, the timing never worked out.
This time, she was going to be in Honduras for the whole summer and knew this was her chance. She texted Profe Banegas that she wanted to try out and he replied, “Of course, we’ve been waiting for this one…we’ve been waiting for you to be ready to train with us.”
She trained very well in her first cycle and she even appeared in some friendlies against Guatemala. About that experience, Ale told me “It felt really good. It felt like ‘wow the dreams come true for real’…just to put the jersey on to have La H on your chest and your heart.”
Let’s go back several months to September 2023 - this is when I first found out who Ale Puerto was. Honduras was beginning its final push in qualifying for the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. Honduras opened up against Martinique and Ale dominated the game with two fantastic goals (you can watch the first one here and the second one here). In talking to her about that game, she said:
“It felt really good because the team had my back and they said, we trust you, just play your game, do good. And then scoring my first official goal with the national team. It was crazy…I couldn't believe it…I was like, is this real? Did I just score? So the first thing I did when I scored my first goal, was go and celebrate with my team because they had my back and they were like supporting me the whole time.”
In that game, I noticed she was wearing the No. 9 - I wondered whether she chose the number or if she had to earn it. She usually likes to wear 15 and was hoping to do so for La H but she saw 9 waiting for her. She told me, “The number doesn't make the player, the player makes the number. So I was fine with number 9.” She continued to live into that number as she scored 2 more goals in qualifying. You can check out her highlights from those games below!
Unfortunately, Las Catrachas did not qualify for the Concacaf W Gold Cup - but the progress they made on the field in that tournament was clear. Something seemed different about the team that I hadn’t seen before.
Ale explained that the unity within the group made the difference. It allowed them to get through the hard times together - especially when the media and fans had negative things to say. She told me, “The team was really special. It's not the results we wanted, but we grew up as a team and we learned a lot.”
The both/and of representing Honduras
Most things (not all things) in this life are not either/or. They are both/and. Representing a national team in any sport brings many both/and feelings. There is usually a level of pride and excitement that comes with wearing the colors. It also provides a platform and a stage that can be used to propel a career, support a cause, and have a voice in a new space.
There is also the downside of the immense pressure that comes with sporting the flag. This can come in the form of hate from fans, media scrutiny, or dealing with the political aspects of things going on in their country. In speaking with and hearing from athletes, the feelings are not either/or. They are usually both/and.
Representing Honduras, especially as a women’s soccer player, is to live in the constant tension of the both/and. Representing the nation through the beautiful game is special to Ale. She told me:
“It's an excitement and a privilege because you're not representing just you, you're representing the whole nation, the whole country, and people to trust you to do that. I think that's a pretty big deal. So it's always exciting to play at home and see your people and receive texts like, ‘Hey, thanks for representing us…thanks for playing for our country. It's really fun to see you.’ So those are things that motivate you to do better and to love what you do more.”
And while Las Catrachas don’t have a huge number of fans coming to support them at games, there are core groups of die-hard passionate supporters. I even saw a sign at one game in Spanish that read, ‘USA tiene a Alex Morgan y nosotros a Ale Puerto’ or ‘USA has Alex Morgan and we have Ale Puerto’.
I asked her about what it means to have support from these fan groups. She explained, “It means a lot. It makes you feel like you're home…it makes you feel extra excited and extra happy to play. And it's a motivation to see people supporting you like that because you have that reason to say, hey, I wanna play hard for these people that come and support us.”
Regarding the sign specifically, she told me “Yeah, when I saw that sign, it made me really happy…because I love Alex Morgan. I think I have to work hard to be where she is, to play like she does. But I don't think it's impossible. Everything's possible. And then if I keep working hard I think I can get there.”
As Ale spoke, it was clear how seriously she takes the opportunity to represent her country. She was beaming with pride as she talked about the team and what they have accomplished. I also got a glimpse into the tension I referenced earlier. The broken side of being a futbolista in Honduras.
The women’s game has long been underinvested in around the world. In Central America it is glaring - and Honduras is well behind its neighbors Costa Rica, Panama, and El Salvador. The lack of resources put into the women’s national team is embarrassing as a supporter and fan of Honduran soccer.
The bare minimums aren’t even being met. The federation (FENAFUTH) has failed to schedule matches in recent FIFA windows and has not communicated with the players about upcoming windows. Changes to the coaching staff have been made without announcement or warning. The initiative to start a women’s professional league seems nonexistent despite hosting a recent Concacaf conference focused on developing one.
The team is pushing for change. Ale said, “This is a fight that past members of the national team have been having since the start of the program, and it won’t end until we see changes.” Many players recently signed on to the following statement to FENAFUTH demanding change.
The failures and lack of support from the federation exist alongside rampant gender discrimination around the country - and specifically in women’s futbol. Some in the media continue to push narratives that hold back progress. It is also very common to see horrible comments (that I cannot include in this post) on social media when it comes to the women’s game in Honduras.
These women are giving their time and energy to a team that isn’t well supported and whether they win or lose, they have to sift through negativity and discrimination, which usually has nothing to do with soccer, on their social media pages.
All of this weighs heavy on Ale and the other players. Around the globe, athletes are harassed, threatened, and abused online by so-called “fans” who think that these words either have no impact, or they just don’t care about the impact they have. They are wrong - it does impact these players because they are human. I have incredible respect for Ale and her teammates and the way they carry themselves with those who try to tear them down.
Despite all of this brokenness, Ale has dreams for Las Catrachas. She hopes that one day she can help them reach a Concacaf W Gold Cup. Beyond that, she thinks that one day Honduras could make it to the World Cup. This seems impossible today - but she and the other players have the fight and believe that it can be done.
Before we closed our conversation, I asked Ale what she would say to all the girls in Honduras who have dreams of playing futbol. She said three things:
Put God first
Don’t let other people bring you down - use it as motivation
Do not give up. Something is out there for you to work hard for and the opportunity will come at the right time
What’s Next for Ale?
While we wait to see what happens with the national team, Ale has a lot of other exciting things happening! As she preps for her next season with Fairmont State, she will be playing in the WPSL again this summer with Futbolera Select (a 2024 expansion side). In addition to playing with them, she signed an NIL deal with their brand.
Ale explained that this NIL deal will help her pursue her dreams and fund some of her expenses playing with Futbolera Select this year. You can find her merchandise collection here (40% of revenue from this collection will go directly to Ale to support her career).
Looking a bit further ahead, Ale has plans to play professionally after she finishes her collegiate career. Her goal is to play in Liga MX Femenil in Mexico or one of the professional leagues in the United States. Like many players, she has European aspirations and her dream club is the legendary Barça! She also has dreams of pursuing a career in nursing. I am excited to see where her career takes her!
Paciencia y Fe
For those of you who do not know me personally - in addition to my passion for soccer, I also love plays and musicals. It is not common for my love for sports to intersect with Broadway (except for a rare occurrence when a play about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson called ‘Magic/Bird’ happened…I may have been the only fan). As I interviewed Ale and heard more of her story, a phrase kept coming to mind…paciencia y fe (patience and faith).
This is a mantra and song from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights (I highly recommend the musical and movie). Olga Merediz, who plays Abuela Claudia, invokes this phrase throughout. In an interview, she explains the meaning and power behind the phrase.
“Paciencia y Fe is like a prayer. It means hold on. Hold steadfast. You can do this. It's the immigrant anthem. Work is hard, Life is hard but with patience and faith, you can do it.”
When Ale grew up and went through the adversity of being excluded from playing futbol because she was a girl, she made it through…paciencia y fe.
When she left behind everything she knew In Honduras, learned a new language, and navigated life as an immigrant, she persevered…paciencia y fe.
When she started playing organized soccer for the first time after growing up just playing potras, she became a local legend….paciencia y fe.
When she had to wait to play for the Honduran national team and suffered through terrible conditions with her old WPSL team, she was finally given her opportunity…paciencia y fe.
And now as she and her teammates struggle with the tension of the honor to represent their nation and the mistreatment they are receiving, they are choosing to stand up for themselves and for all the girls in Honduras with dreams of playing the beautiful game. I know this is going to make a difference and I know it will require paciencia y fe.
Thank you all for taking the time to read Ale’s story and for supporting ConcaCorner. I hope to continue bringing you all this type of content - telling the stories of people making their mark and making a difference through soccer in our region!
As always great research and a great read.