Background and career
Trinity Rain Moyer-Rodman (born May 20, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. Rodman was the second overall pick by the Spirit in the 2021 NWSL Draft, becoming the NWSL's youngest draftee at the time at age 18. She helped the club win the NWSL Championship and was named the NWSL Rookie of the Year and NWSL Best XI First Team in her debut season. She has been named to the NWSL Best XI three times with the Spirit. Rodman was named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year in 2021, making her senior debut for the United States the following year. She scored three goals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the United States won gold.
Trinity Rain Moyer-Rodman was born on May 20, 2002, in Newport Beach, California, to Michelle Moyer and former professional basketball player Dennis Rodman. She and her brother, DJ Rodman, were raised primarily by their mother in southern California. Rodman has said she went through long stretches without speaking to her father, and she briefly lived with her mother in their car. She also has a half-sister. Rodman began playing soccer at age four and said it "felt like home" to her as young as seven or eight. She was encouraged by her mother and sister to pursue her dream of becoming a professional soccer player. Rodman began playing club soccer with SoCal Blues at the age of ten. Her team won four national championships in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) and maintained a five-year undefeated streak. Rodman attended and played for Corona del Mar High School for one year as a freshman before transferring to JSerra Catholic High School in nearby San Juan Capistrano but did not play for the school. Rodman initially committed to play collegiate soccer for the UCLA Bruins before deciding to follow her older brother to the Washington State Cougars beginning in the 2020 season. However, she never played a match in college as her freshman season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and she decided to turn professional.
At age 18, Rodman became the youngest player to be drafted in NWSL history when the Washington Spirit selected her as their first draft pick (second overall) at the 2021 NWSL College Draft. Before being drafted by the Spirit, she had never been to Washington, D.C. Rodman made her professional debut on April 10, 2021, scoring a goal within five minutes of being subbed on against the North Carolina Courage in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup group stage. On April 15, she assisted Ashley Sanchez's stoppage-time winner in a 1–0 victory over Racing Louisville. She appeared in all four of the Spirit's matches during the Challenge Cup, where they finished in fourth place in the East Division with a 1–2–1 record. Rodman was the Spirit's second-leading scorer with 6 goals (behind Ashley Hatch) and added 5 assists in 22 games in her rookie regular season. The team finished in third place during the regular season with a 11–7–6 record and advanced to the playoffs. After the Spirit defeated North Carolina Courage 1–0, Rodman scored in the Spirit's 2–1 win against OL Reign to advance to the final, where they faced the Chicago Red Stars. Rodman helped lift the Spirit to their first league championship with an assist Kelley O'Hara's winning goal. At age 19, Rodman became the youngest player in league history to record an assist in the playoffs. On November 17, 2021, Rodman was named NWSL Rookie of the Year and to the NWSL Best XI. She earned U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year honors the following month. On February 2, 2022, Rodman signed a contract extension with the Washington Spirit running until after the 2024 season, with an option for 2025. It was reported that the new contract was worth $1.1 million, making Rodman the highest paid player in NWSL history.
On April 3, 2022, Rodman scored once and assisted twice in a 4–1 win against the Orlando Pride in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup group stage. In the following game, she scored a brace as the Spirit came back to defeat NJ/NY Gotham FC 3–1 on April 17. She recorded four goals and three assists in eight games in the Challenge Cup as Washington reached the final, a 2–1 losing effort against the North Carolina despite Rodman's game-tying assist to Ashley Hatch. On August 13, 2022, Rodman was nominated for the Ballon d'Or Féminin. She was a nominee for the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award. She finished the 2022 regular season with 4 goals and 2 assists in 18 games as the defending champions crashed to 11th out of 12 teams in the league.
Rodman opened the 2023 season with two goals and an assist in the first three games and helped the Spirit earn points from their first seven games. On May 6, 2023, she scored and assisted Ashley Sanchez in a 3–1 win against the San Diego Wave. She scored a third-minute goal against Racing Louisville on June 3. She finished the 2023 season with 5 goals and 2 assists in 19 games, with Washington finishing in eighth place and missing the playoffs. Rodman was named in the NWSL Best XI Second Team.
Rodman was the Spirit's joint-leading scorer in the 2024 regular season with 8 goals (tied with Ouleymata Sarr) and 6 assists in 23 games. Two of her goals won NWSL Goal of the Week. On September 20, 2024, she left the game against the Kansas City Current in a wheelchair due to back spasms. She returned to action three games later and helped the team finish second in the regular-season standings. Despite still dealing with the back injury, she played all 330 minutes of the playoffs as Washington beat Bay FC in overtime, overcame NJ/NY Gotham FC on penalties, and fell one goal short to the Orlando Pride in the championship game. Rodman was named in the NWSL Best XI and was one of five nominees for NWSL Most Valuable Player, losing to Temwa Chawinga.
