US women’s national team star Trinity Rodman may have a famous father, but she’s already managing to chart her own legacy as an athlete.
Rodman is the daughter of five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, although she chose to play another sport at an early age. The younger Rodman was one of the most promising prospects in the U.S. women’s youth system before making her debut for the senior national team in 2022. She has been a regular ever since, but from an early age she was determined to keep the surname hers. own.
“People know Trinity Rodman, sometimes before Dennis Rodman now,” she says told ESPN in an interview last year. “I’m not trying to overcome what he’s accomplished. I just want to build my own story.”
Here’s a look at Rodman’s career so far.
The career of Trinity Rodman
Rodman was a highly regarded junior player before being drafted by the NWSL’s Washington Spirit in 2021, unconventionally skipping college football to turn pro and becoming the youngest draft pick in the league at the time. She scored eight goals in her first season as a professional and won NWSL Rookie of the Year honors and US Soccer’s Young Female Player of the Award.
She made her debut for the national team in February 2022 and scored her first international goal in a 7–0 win over Uzbekistan in a friendly match in April. Since then, she has made 40 appearances and scored seven goals, making her part of last year’s Women’s World Cup squad and this year’s Olympic Games. She was a starter at last year’s World Cup and is expected to fill the same role in France this year.
Rodman has balanced a career with the national team with success for the Spirit, scoring 26 goals in 89 games in her club career so far. She won the NWSL Championship in 2021 and also became the first NWSL player to sign a $1 million contract in 2022.