Trinity Rodman

Trinity Rodman (born May 20, 2002, Newport Beach, California, U.S.) is an American professional football (soccer) player who is a forward for the Washington Spirit in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and is on the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT). At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Rodman helped the USWNT win the gold medal.

Early life and education

Rodman is the daughter of Michelle Moyer and Dennis Rodman, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) star. Her parents divorced in 2012 but had separated years earlier, when she was very young. She and her elder brother, DJ Rodman, were raised by their mother, who Rodman considers to be her role model and with whom she has a very close relationship. She has credited her father with passing along his athletic abilities to her but has been candid about how he has been mostly absent from her life. She has two elder half sisters, Alexis Rodman and Teyana Lima, from her parents’ previous marriages.

Soccer became a part of Rodman’s life at a young age, as she started playing when she was four. When she was 10, she began playing club soccer with the Southern California (SoCal) Blues, where she would continue to play until she was 18. She attended Corona del Mar High School for her freshman year, where she also played high-school soccer, but later transferred to JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, where she did not play. For her postsecondary education, she chose to attend Washington State University, where she committed to playing on the women’s soccer team. In the fall of 2020, however, what would have been her first season there was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Club play

Reconsidering her options, Rodman decided to register for the 2021 NWSL draft and play professionally. She was drafted by the Washington Spirit, located in Washington, D.C., and, at the age of 18, became the youngest player to be drafted in league history. During her rookie season with the Washington Spirit, in 2021, she was the team’s second leading goal scorer and helped lead the team to its first-ever NWSL championship. At age 19, she set a record during the team’s championship run, becoming the youngest player ever to get an assist in a playoff game. Rodman’s outstanding play earned her the NWSL Rookie of the Year and U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year awards. When Washington signed Rodman to the $1.1 million contract extension on February 2, 2022, she became the highest-paid player in the history of the NWSL at that time.

International career

Rodman has excelled on the international soccer stage as well. In 2020 she helped the United States squad win the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 championship and was one of the top scorers. She made her USWNT debut in 2022. Her stellar play led her to be named to the U.S. team for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup that took place in July and August 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. The following year Rodman was a member of the USWNT that won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.