Soccer (Football)
Trinity Rodman: Top career moments
Learn about Trinity Rodman's top career moments, from her soccer beginnings to her world stage debut.
Rising soccer star Trinity Rodman has made incredible waves at home and abroad in her relatively short career. So, how does the young soccer player cope with the pressures of success? If she’s feeling stressed on the field, her plan is to never let it show.
“The best way to deal with pressure is to just ignore it,” Rodman said.
Trinity Rodman
© Matthew Stith / Red Bull Content Pool
Her approach certainly seems to be paying off. From NWSL forward to her recent debut on the international circuit, Rodman is setting records and scoring wins left and right. The star player is one to watch out for, especially if you’re on the team she’s playing against. Read ahead for the top Trinity Rodman career moments, from her soccer beginnings to her World Cup debut.
01
Early beginnings
Trinity and her brother DJ grew up in the Southern California city of Newport Beach with their mom Michelle. Rodman started kicking the soccer ball at around age 4, and her competitive attitude was apparent from the get-go. She knew early on that this wasn’t just going to be a casual hobby.
"I realized that soccer was going to be my thing when I couldn't accept that people could play a sport just for fun," she says.
Her mother and sister recognized her drive and talent, and they’ve been cheering by her side ever since. She joined her first youth club at age 10, she thrived in this environment of serious competitors. In fact, she led the team to four Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) victories.
Trinity Rodman
© Matthew Stith / Red Bull Content Pool
At age 13, Rodman was invited to play for the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team, where she’d be on the roster for U-16, U-17, and U-20 squads. She was also integral to two victorious high school team seasons.
02
From college student to NWSL draftee
Rodman initially planned to stay in Southern California to launch her career, as she was accepted to UCLA to play for the Bruins. Just before the 2020 season, though, she decided to join her brother at Washington State, where she dreamed of playing for the Cougars. Then, the world changed overnight.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodman’s freshman season was canceled. In fact, she never got to play a single match as a college student, but that didn’t stop her. It wouldn’t take long for Rodman to get back on the field and play for a much larger audience. In January 2021, at age 18, Rodman set a record as the then-youngest person in history to be drafted to the National Women’s Soccer League.
03
Professional debut
Trinity Rodman at The St. James in Springfield, Virginia
© Matthew Stith / Red Bull Content Pool
Rodman made her NWSL debut with the Washington Spirit, which remains her team today. To say she had a good first season would be quite an understatement. It took her just five minutes on the field during her first match to score her first professional goal. Out of the 25 games she played, she started 22 of them. She landed seven goals total throughout the season, two of which clinched winning games for Spirit, making her the team’s second-highest point scorer.
When Rodman wasn’t scoring the winning goal herself, she was pulling off triumphant assists. These included a key pass to midfielder Ashley Sanchez against Racing Louisville FC and a championship-winning assist to Kelley O’Hara against the Chicago Red Stars.
Rodman wrapped her first professional year on an especially high note. She was crowned NWSL Rookie of the Year in 2021 and won the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year award. When she renewed her contract with the Spirit the following year, she landed a seven-figure deal that made her the highest-paid player in NWSL history. Trinity also now has the most regular season assists in club history, passing Crystal Dunn and Diana Matheson. Clearly and unsurprisingly, her team wants to keep this rising star on their roster for as long as possible.
04
USWNT/International recognition
“I think my personality comes through in the way that I play,” says Rodman.
© Wolfgang Zac
USWNT debut
Rodman’s international career is still in its nascent stage, but she’s already made a large global impact. Her first experience with the U.S. Women’s National Team was in January 2022 when she was recruited for that month’s camp. The next month, when Abby Dahlkemper was injured ahead of a game against the Czech Republic, Rodman was her first-choice replacement. With Rodman on the USWNT, the team won the She Believes Cup in 2022 and 2023, and the Concacaf W Gold Cup in 2024.
First World Cup journey
Rodman made her Women’s World Cup debut in July 2023 with the USWNT. The significance of playing with some of the best U.S. women’s soccer players wasn’t lost on her. She describes what it was like to play alongside these icons for the first time.
“There’s no doubt that playing on the same side as Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauermann is surreal,” she says. “You can tell who’s been on the national team for a while because they play with this grit and relentlessness.”
Rodman spared no time in proving she could play at the same level as the USWNT’s greatest legendary figures. During a qualifying game in January, Rodman helped take the team from a 0-0 deadlock against New Zealand to a 4-0 victory. Her official debut at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand that July ended in a 3-0 win against Vietnam.
World stage
With three goals and one assist throughout the tournament on the world stage in Paris, Rodman became an Olympic gold medalist with the USWNT team and helped the team secure first place.
05
Memorable goals
Trinity Rodman plays forward on the field
© Jared Martinez / Red Bull Content Pool
Setting an NWSL record
Rodman has given fans several exciting moments to watch in her short but prolific career. In her time with the Washington Spirit, she’s become the youngest player in NWSL history to score 10 goals and 10 assists. Some of these goals and assists were big-time nail-biters.
Two examples come from a May 2023 game against the San Diego Wave. Amid a home-stretch tie, Ashley Sanchez passed the ball to Rodman, who was behind a Wave defender. As the Wave player narrowly missed the ball, Rodman charged ahead at full force. She snatched the ball and scored with a kick that landed just inches from the goalie’s hand. If that wasn’t enough to celebrate, she made a game-clinching assist only 15 minutes later with a pass back to Sanchez, who scored a goal.
Hunting the ball for USWNT
The match against the Wave wouldn’t be the only one in which Rodman would make two game-clinching plays. In a send-off match against Wales prior to the World Cup, Rodman was named Woman of the Match. She earned the title for scoring a brace, or two goals in the same match, after only joining at half-time.
Before landing her second goal, Rodman showed no mercy when brutally snatching the ball from the opposition in those final moments. USWNT coach Mark Parsons describes Rodman’s relentless approach to Red Bull.
“When we don’t have the ball, Trinity chases, hunts, and presses like her life depends on it,” he says.
As Dennis Rodman’s daughter, that ruthless chase of the ball might be in her blood. In an interview with Barron’s, Rodman described how her approach to rebounds mirrors her dad’s athletic style.
“Obviously my dad is pretty good at rebounding and with rebounding, it's hunting in front of [the] goal, it's hunting when you lose the ball,” she says. “I think [that] a huge part of my game is regains, tracking back and being the first person to get a foot ahead, a knee, a shin on something that pops up.”
It’s just the beginning for Trinity Rodman
If her stats so far are any indication, Rodman isn’t letting anyone stand in the way of her goals on or off the field. She’s already had several career-defining victories. She’s just getting started on this journey — which, to her, is much more than just a game. As she told Red Bull, she sees her work on the field as art.
“Every player has the ability to be as creative as they want to be, to do dangerous things, to put on a show,” she says. “There’s something so entertaining about that. I don’t think soccer is just a sport.”