Trinity Rodman: My game in my words

Trinity Rodman has a particular magnetism about her, taking contradiction and finding harmony.

She’s a world class talent but self-identifies as being in her “student era.”

The 22-year-old is far from done.

Rodman’s the first to admit that she tends to lead with her emotions, seeing that as part of what makes her the player she is. Sometimes, it works out, but other times, it has cost her, like the yellow card she received during the U.S. women’s national team’s game against Colombia in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup earlier this year.

“I feel like everyone has kind of accepted it,” she says as we sit in front of my laptop reviewing highlights from the last four years of her career. “Like, ‘Oh, there goes Trin again.’”

She has felt people have perceived her as unapproachable in those moments but wants to hear the criticism because she wants to grow. Her emotions are crucial in that process.

“It’s a balance because, for me, I think the emotional part of my game makes me entertaining, and I think it makes me Trinity,” she says. “I don’t ever want that to change. I don’t want to be a robot ever.”

Her natural athleticism and talent could come with an air of being uncoachable, but that’s hardly been the case for Rodman. With a different club head coach every season and three national team managers in three years, she has found calm in the chaos.

“It’s almost scarier when it’s smooth sailing, or when we’re winning every game with no issues,” she says.

Rodman has the makings of a superstar, identifying as an entertainer as much as she’s an athlete.

“I always want to be the player (that has people asking), ‘What is she going to do today?’” she says.

Yet off the field, Rodman embraces fans as if they are lifelong friends, taking time to discuss the game or appear in a TikTok video. The “Trin Spin”, a youth soccer move she has made her own, captivates crowds with a sense of child-like wonderment, and she enjoys laughing over highlights with fans after a game.

“My teammates will hype me up about it,” she says of her signature move, smiling. “I’m like, ‘Guys, we learned this in U-10. Like, this is actually the easiest thing you could possibly do in soccer. But everyone thinks it’s this magnificent thing that no one can ever do.

“I think having a trademark move is sick, but having a trademark move that is that simple is even better.”

“It feels like forever ago,” Rodman says as we watch her first goal with the Spirit.

She scored five minutes into her debut with the team during the 2021 Challenge Cup, then a preseason competition. Being the youngest player drafted in 2021 comes with certain expectations, yet the 18-year-old wasn’t even expecting to play.

“I had no expectation of coming in,” Rodman says. “In preseason, all I was thinking was, ‘I’m a practice player. I’m just going to get better and better.’ Like I’m young. They have no idea what to expect.

“One thing about the 2021 Washington Spirit is we loved playing the ball over the top. That was a game plan for us,” she says, watching as defender Natalie Jacobs lobs a long pass looping up over the field dropping to Rodman’s knee.

“I do remember specifically thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t really tell where the ball is gonna land. Thankfully, it landed right on my thigh, and it honestly just trickled perfectly for that prep touch. I didn’t even need another one.

“I was going to dribble a little bit more, but once I saw that the keeper was so far off the line, I was like, ‘OK, I need to do something.’

“A focus for me was getting into dangerous areas with my speed and athleticism. That’s all I was thinking going into the game, was to be on the back shoulder, be in between center backs, and find a way to get in behind.

“But in terms of the actual control and goal, I feel like all I was thinking was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to make this.’ No one expected me to make it.”

2021 NWSL regular season: Washington Spirit 3-0 Racing Louisville

As Rodman said, long balls over the top were a Spirit signature during the 2021 season. She could set them up as much as she could score them.

During the first 10 minutes of a regular-season game against expansion team Racing Louisville, Rodman stole the ball off defender Erin Simon.

“That’s a part of my game that sometimes gets overlooked,” Rodman says. “Obviously, people know that I defend a good amount, but I think what also has improved in my game is the front-foot energy in the attacking half — but defensively.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at adjusting my body really quickly and just staring at the defender; watching their hips, watching their feet, watching their eyes, watching everything. I’ve had a couple like that this year, winning the ball in that exact way.”

The play starts with Rodman reading the defender. It’s something she has seen in her teammates as well, pointing out that Washington rookie Makenna Morris did something similar against the North Carolina Courage in the Spirit’s 2024 regular-season finale last week.

Going back to the 2021 clip, Rodman says: “I love that goal, but for me, it was just the whole team effort of winning it and knowing immediately, ‘OK, we need this in behind,’ and obviously quality.

“I’m really happy with how that turned out. I knew that I had to get it in behind the defender and (forward Ashley) Hatch could honestly do the rest if I put it in the right place. She had it.”

Playing defense in opponents’ halves has come and gone through seven head coaches and interims with the Spirit. It’s one of the many tools Rodman keeps in her box.

“I do run a lot defensively, but (it’s about) doing that work as quickly as possible,” she says. “Our team likes to say, ‘First five, big five,’  — like (in the) first five seconds we’re winning the ball back.

“It’s not defending to win the ball, it’s defending to score a goal. Having that mentality has always been there, and obviously it’s just gotten better and better, and my positioning has gotten better.

“I feel like even in the first couple of years, it was more so me running so far to track back, and now I’m in the right position to cut off the pass so that pass doesn’t even happen. It’s always been there, but I’m getting smarter with it.”

Something that has helped this year is the Spirit’s more possession-based style of play, implemented by former FC Barcelona Femení and Champions League-winning head coach Jonatan Giráldez, who took over the team in the summer.

2022 international friendly: United States 9-0 Uzbekistan

“I’ll never forget that.”

Before going pro, Rodman was nominated for the 2020 U.S. Soccer young female player of the year, thanks in large part to her nine goals that helped the U.S. win the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship. (She lost the award that year, but won it in 2021 after also racking up NWSL rookie of the year, NWSL Best XI and a championship trophy with the Spirit). But playing for the senior team is a completely different experience.

“I think the entire first year of being with the national team, I lacked a lot of confidence, just not knowing the role that I was going to play and not feeling as good of a player,” Rodman says.

“Obviously, you’re stepping in the national team where everyone’s good, everyone’s great. For me, I just wanted to keep this spot.

“It took a while for me to figure out that I could be the same player on the national team as I could for the Spirit. I was overthinking and trying too hard to have a different role when I really could have the same role, just in a different way.”

When Rodman finally broke through with the team, it was via a play set up by two of her Spirit teammates. Former Spirit midfielder Ashley Sanchez controlled the ball with three Uzbekistan players closing in.

From there it was a quick triangle pass to Hatch…

… who hit it first time to Rodman (No 14, below) to score.

“Having them there, just knowing that they knew my tendencies… I didn’t have to second-guess it,” says Rodman. “I didn’t have to overthink, ‘Oh, if I mess this up, they’re gonna get mad.

“It was more so an acceptance that they’re used to either me scoring or me having this turnover. It definitely helped me be less scared in that moment.”

Rodman compared the feeling, and the following celebration with Hatch, Sanchez and fellow Spirit players Kelley O’Hara and Andi Sullivan, to having her mom or siblings supporting her.

Now it’s Rodman who is among a young veteran class with the USWNT, welcoming in an even younger group.

“It’s definitely different because… it’s not all eyes on this one teenager coming in,” Rodman says. “We relate on a lot more things, and I feel that helps with the young players coming in and having that confidence because we have that goofy, funny interaction on and off the field. I think that kind of eases the nerves for them, and I don’t want to speak for them, but that’s how I feel.”

2023 NWSL regular season: Washington Spirit 3-1 San Diego Wave

“I love this game,” Rodman says with a sigh.

Her exasperation isn’t because the team lost. They won handily over the San Diego Wave. It’s pining for that “special” connection with Sanchez, so rare because it happened so early in Rodman’s career.

“Playing with somebody that you connect with so well, it just makes me happy to see those clips. We had a special connection, for sure,” she says of Sanchez, who joined the Spirit a year before Rodman.

Rodman and Sanchez directly combined for six goals in their three seasons together before the Spirit traded the latter to the North Carolina Courage during the 2024 NWSL Draft in exchange for $250,000 in allocation money. It was a move that “hit the soul” and “shocked” both players.

“I love that clip too because I remember that game, that had happened multiple times, too, where I was driving and I’d pass it to her, and she would look at me and be like, ‘My bad. I got the next one.’ And it was just really funny.”

In the run-up to the goal, Rodman uses her speed to break away from the Wave’s defender before choosing to play the open pass.

“That’s just another part of my game I feel has improved,” she says. “I feel like 2021 Trinity would have tried to shoot that with three defenders closing in on her. For me, it was just the unselfishness of ‘I’m going to drive as far as I can and allow everyone to come over and just slide it over to Ash.’ I just wanted to attract as many people so that she had a better opportunity.”

She timed her run right too.

“It’s been really nice to be gifted with (speed), but I think it’s helped a lot to use it in different ways,” Rodman says. “Even this Olympics, I watched a couple of clips of my dribbling, or even pausing before and then using that acceleration instead of just going immediately. I feel like it’s easy to just kick it and run, knowing you’re faster, but to find different ways to use it, I think is really cool.”

This season Rodman has had far fewer opportunities to find those moments.

“I feel like it has to do with the defenders that go against me,” she says. “They’re studying me more, which is a compliment that sucks. At the same time, they’re playing a lot differently. They’re tighter on my back. They know that I like it at my feet all the time.

“Now that I have less space to do so, and fewer times where I’m getting those little slip passes in the pocket, in the seam, it’s figuring out then when my moment is to use that to my advantage. I feel like creating separation, even if it’s pinned against the sideline, I still feel like I can use that and find ways to get an inch of space to accelerate. So that’s been really hard to navigate, but it’s been fun to figure out when and how to do it.”

Mastering her emotions and finding confidence with the USWNT

When we get to Rodman’s brace against Wales in 2023, we don’t actually watch the clip. But Rodman has a near-photographic memory of her game.

“That was honestly one of the only games where I felt really confident (with the U.S. in 2023) and I really was playing like myself,” Rodman says. “You can tell I wasn’t scared. … And those two goals, I feel like we’re just an automatic thing.

“The first goal was me just getting in front of the goal. The second one was that I didn’t want (the Wales defender) getting out of this. We had tried scoring. We were going to get this goal. Like, same energy.”

“In that game, I was just like, ‘Finally, I’ve kind of broken the seal and I can be me. I’m good,’ Rodman says. “Even through the (2023) World Cup, I was still trying to find my way, but that was, I think, the breakthrough game for me.”

The U.S. fell in the round of 16 during that World Cup, losing on penalty kicks against Sweden.

“This was something that we battled through and this is something that’s going to help us grow, but it’s not a setback, and I don’t feel like any of us looked at it in that way,” she says about the tournament. “It was obviously horrible right after, but we had always looked at it in a positive way afterward.”

The U.S. rebounded eight months later, winning the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup under interim head coach Twila Kilgore with the promise of Emma Hayes on the horizon. In the quarterfinal, the U.S. faced a physical and emotional match-up with Colombia that resulted in 31 total fouls and seven yellow cards, one of which went to Rodman. The game featured plenty of players expressing their frustrations.

“I feel like because I am emotional, people think that I’m not as coachable or approachable in those situations,” she says. “But I’m extremely open to criticism. I want coaches’ opinions, players’ opinions. I want the people that I’m around, I want to know what they’re feeling.”

USWNT coach Hayes has embraced this approach.

“I’ve learned a lot, and Emma’s honestly helped me because she’s made it clear, like, ‘Hey, I don’t want to force you to be somebody you’re not.’ She just says there’s a time and place for that.

“From the Olympics until now, I feel like it’s been a completely different me, and I’ve still had those moments where I’m just like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ or I’m mocking someone, or talking smack or whatever. I think it’s a balance, for sure, it’s finding the time to do it strategically.

“Even with the lack of time she had with me, (Hayes) knew how to say it to me without overstepping in a way… It was really nice in the way that she did it, and just the way that she did it as a coach and a human.

“The coach side is like, ‘Alright, we need to chill. We want you on the field. We don’t want you getting reds. We don’t want the ref to not side with us because of this.’ But at the same time, like, ‘I get it. You can have those moments, but if you have those moments, we’re going to have Lindsay (Horan) come over, we’re going to have Soph (Smith) come over. We’re going to have Rose (Lavelle) come over to mediate, like, good cop, bad cops situation.’”

We watch Rodman’s assist at the end of the first half to Jaedyn Shaw against Colombia. The USWNT’s opponent was playing a high defensive line, trying to catch the U.S. forwards offside.

“It’s a really dangerous game to play, to be honest. I think it’s really smart, but if they get it a little bit wrong,” Rodman warns. “I’m always trying to get the advantage, and I realize that I don’t need to be on the back line to get the advantage. My momentum is already going forward.

“So for me in this clip, I was trying to just get my distance, get my positioning first, and I knew that by the time that I had rounded to get the space I’d be able to then just go and still have that momentum to beat them.

“I think I’m just trying to create separation and still have my momentum. I feel like that’s something that is so important, especially with this, if you can still be running the whole time on an offside trap. You don’t have to stop to make sure you’re on.”

The origin of the ‘Trin Spin’

A key part of Rodman’s game is her daring to try new things, which is how the ‘Trin Spin’ came about.

Has she ever practiced it?

“No, because I know that it’s not going to work in training,” she says. “Everyone I go against here, they’re like, ‘Don’t try it. It’s not going to work.’ I know it’s not going to.”

Rodman started doing the move in 2023. She tried it one game against the Seattle Reign just to see what would happen.

“Now I am smarter with it. I’m able to really figure out when the right timing is and how to do it,” Rodman says.

“It’s not even like knowledge. When this happens, it’s the weirdest thing. I can feel exactly when they’re at their last step to get behind me. I don’t even know how to explain this in a better way, but I think there’s obviously a lot of times I get on the sideline where my body’s not open and it’s facing backward, and I’m like, ‘OK, there’s literally only one logical way to get by.’”

She waits for her moment, which is sometimes not until she feels a player’s hand on her back. She knows if she’s standing with her feet apart, so is the defender.

Over the summer, Rodman debuted the move on the biggest stage, using it to score the opening goal of the Paris Olympics against Zambia. The U.S. won the game 3-0 and went on to win gold a few weeks later.

“I feel like the Trin Spin has also been the entertainment of soccer. This is proof that soccer should be fun.

“Even when I do it, I’m like, ‘he he.’ I feel like I just did it to my brother growing up, and I’m like, ‘Gotcha, try again tomorrow.” Obviously cool on the soccer piece, but it’s even more rewarding to know that the entire stadium is just like, ‘Oh my gosh.” I think that’s the coolest part, entertaining and people want to watch it because I’m fun, not just because I’m good.”

It’s what brings her joy during the game and after when she gets to share those moments with fans.

“I think it gives them something to talk about, but also it’s fun to interact with the fans about silly moments like that as if they’re my friend,” she says. “It’s humbling, but also a very social interaction.”

For Rodman, the last four years have been about learning.

“When I look back and go through the years of my development, I would say there’s been more selflessness in my game,” she says. “I love setting players up as well as having the attention and doing cool things and drawing defenders in and shooting. But for me, I feel like the improvement has really come with the connection that I have with my team, the awareness of the spaces that they’re filling and running off of me.”

In her rookie year, Rodman experienced highs of winning the NWSL Championship and earning rookie of the year. But off the field, the team’s head coach was removed after reports of verbal and emotional abuse — the first of six coaching changes she’s gone through at the club level. The team also went through a public ownership change with Michele Kang eventually buying the team from previous owner Steve Baldwin. Off the field, the club was getting pulled in multiple directions. On it, players were finding ways to pull together.

“I feel like my biggest takeaway that year was that it’s so important to learn from other players, even if you’re fighting for the spot against them,” Rodman says. “For me, even watching games from 2021, if I had one good play, I would get kind of selfish and want to outshine other people. I cringe when I watch those games, because I’m like, “Ew! Why did I take that shot? Why did I dribble there? That was gross.’

“I’m learning from even the rookies this year. … It’s crazy to accept the fact that you’re not going to be the best player on the field every game. And as talented as I am, I know that, and that’s helped me so much.”

And Rodman is still learning. She sees herself as an incomplete player, in a positive way.

“I always want there to be 10 percent that we could find, so in my game right now I would say it’s incomplete,” she says. “I’m at my most confident and aggressive style of play, but also I’m in my student era of soccer.”

(Top photos: Brad Smith/ISI/Getty Images; Design: Meech Robinson)