American girls’s soccer followers may very well be forgiven for feeling a bit nervous heading into the Paris Video games.
Final 12 months, the US Nationwide Ladies’s Group exited the World Cup sooner than ever, not even reaching the quarterfinals following a 5-4 loss to Sweden within the Spherical of 16. And a few of the group’s longtime superstars, together with Alex Morgan and now-retired Megan Rapinoe, are lacking from this 12 months’s Olympic roster.
However the group has a brand new coach, Emma Hayes, and plenty of younger expertise—9 gamers on the 2024 roster are first-time Olympians—that’s been totally on show on the Paris Video games. Among the many most notable is 22-year-old Trinity Rodman, the pink-braided ahead whose unimaginable extra-time purpose towards Japan (watch it right here) put Group USA forward 1-0 to advance to the semifinals. Which means they’ll be taking part in for a medal.
Listed here are 9 issues in regards to the Washington Spirit professional you need to know earlier than Group USA continues onto the pitch in Paris.
1. Rodman’s dad is a sorta well-known athlete too.
In the event you thought you acknowledged her final identify, you’re completely proper. Rodman is the youngest little one of Dennis Rodman, the NBA participant recognized for his rebound abilities and colourful hair who helped the Chicago Bulls to their second championship three-peat from 1996 to 1998.
Rodman’s mother is Dennis’ third spouse, Michelle Moyer, who additionally had a son with the basketball star (Rodman’s brother, Dennis “DJ” Jr.). Whereas Rodman might have her father to thank for a few of her athletic genes, their relationship has been difficult. “We don’t see eye to eye on many issues. I’m going months if not years with out his presence or communication,” she wrote on Instagram in 2021, when he shocked her by displaying up at one among her video games.
Moyer primarily raised Rodman and her brother alone, based on Individuals, and Rodman calls her mother a superhero and “probably the most wonderful lady on this planet.” However she’s impressed by her dad’s athleticism and mentality and has mentioned she realized rather a lot from his instance. When ESPN requested in 2023 if there was something she’d inform him, she mentioned: “Thanks for instructing me the errors that may very well be made within the highlight. I believe it’s laborious to see the downfalls that include it, together with him not being in my life. However he’s my dad and I really like him.”
2. She dedicated to school—however by no means performed within the NCAA.
Her soccer journey began early. Rodman first started taking part in at age 4, and although she additionally flirted with basketball, soccer shortly stole her coronary heart, based on NBC Olympics. She grew up in Newport Seashore, California, and performed 9 years on a membership group referred to as the SoCal Blues.
After graduating from JSerra Catholic Excessive College, she first dedicated to UCLA, then decommitted and enrolled at Washington State College (the place her brother performed collegiate basketball earlier than transferring to USC). However then the COVID-19 pandemic interfered, canceling collegiate sports activities.
3. As an alternative, she joined the Washington Spirit because the youngest-ever participant drafted to the NWSL.
By 2020, Rodman was already a star on United States youth nationwide groups—she performed three matches in the course of the 2018 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup in Uruguay and had 9 profession U-20 worldwide objectives.
