All About Trinity Rodman, the USWNT Star Who Made Her World Cup Debut in 2023

Trinity Rodman, the youngest child of Dennis Rodman, has set records in the National Women's Soccer League

Trinity Rodman isn’t just Dennis Rodman’s daughter — she’s a soccer star in her own right.

The younger child born to the NBA legend and his third wife, Michelle Moyer, Trinity is a professional soccer player for the Washington Spirit. The talented forward began her career in the National Women’s Soccer League after being drafted second overall in 2021 at just 18 years old. And though she credited her father with handing down his athletic “genes,” Trinity was eager to make a name for herself outside of her father’s shadow.

“He was an amazing athlete, and I got those genes from him, but I’m excited to be known as Trinity Rodman and not just as Rodman’s daughter,” she said after being drafted. “I’m excited to pave my own path and get better throughout this journey.”

Related: Dennis Rodman's Daughter Trinity Opens Up About Their Relationship After He Surprises Her at a Game

In the two years since, Trinity has done just that: The 21-year-old professional soccer player has already shattered records and made history on several occasions. And in July 2023, she participated in her first FIFA Women's World Cup alongside the U.S. Women’s National Team. On Aug. 6, the American team lost to Sweden in Round 16, marking their earliest exit from the tournament in the team's history.

Despite the loss, Rodman maintains her reputation as a strong player.

“People do know Trinity Rodman sometimes before Dennis Rodman now,” Trinity told ESPN in June 2022. “That’s a cool thing for me. I’m not trying to overcome what he accomplished, I just want to build my own story, and I think I’m doing a really good job.”

From her early beginnings on the soccer field to her current relationship with her father, here is everything to know about Trinity Rodman.

She was raised by her mother, Michelle Moyer

Trinity was born on May 20, 2002, to Dennis and his then-girlfriend Michelle Moyer. She is Dennis and Moyer’s second child together — joining her big brother, DJ, who is just 13 months older. (Trinity also has two older half-sisters: Alexis, from Dennis’ first marriage to Annie Bakes, and Teyana Lima, from Moyer’s first marriage.)

Dennis and Moyer, who first met in a bar in 1999, wed one week before Trinity’s first birthday on May 13, 2003. The marriage was short-lived, however, with Moyer filing for divorce in 2004. (Dennis and Moyer remained legally married until Moyer re-filed for divorce in 2012.)

But even before their split, Michelle was the primary parent to DJ and Trinity.

“We won’t live together,” Dennis told the Los Angeles Times after his wedding to Moyer. “I like it like that. She and the kids come over on weekends.”

Trinity, who grew up in Newport Beach, California, has also been open about growing up without her father present. A Los Angeles Times profile on the soccer star reported that Dennis kept his children “at a financial and emotional distance."

“I go months if not years without his presence or communication,” Trinity revealed on Instagram about her father in November 2021. However, the talented soccer player has a close relationship with her mother — who raised her as a single parent and whom she has called her “#1 supporter and best friend.”

“Having a dad like I do, no one asks about my mom because she’s obviously not an NBA star,” Trinity told The Guardian in 2021.  “But I just want people to know that my mom’s been my support system in everything in life ... She’s an extremely strong woman. She’s my role model.”

She’s been playing soccer since she was 4 years old

Trinity was born into an athletic family, with her father being an NBA Hall of Famer and her mother running track and field and playing softball in high school. As a result, her mother had her try a variety of sports as a child — even her father’s forte, basketball.

“With my mom’s and my dad’s genes, me and my brother excelled in a lot of sports,” Trinity told ESPN. “I was good at basketball, but I was uncomfortable. I did not like dribbling, [I] didn’t know how to shoot. ... It didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing.”

One sport she felt comfortable in from a young age, though, was soccer. She began playing at the age of 4 and was a natural right from the start, Moyer said.

“As soon as I saw her on the field, it was a no-brainer,” Moyer told ESPN. “I knew that was it.”

And Trinity was a fierce competitor from the start. Her mother recalled Trinity crying when her teammates weren’t as intense about scoring goals and winning as she was, ESPN reported. By age 10, she played for the SoCal Blues, an elite girls' soccer club in Southern California.

“I realized that soccer was going to be my thing when I couldn’t accept that people could play a sport just for fun,” Trinity told ESPN. “I think at a young age, I was just like, ‘Can we score? What are we doing?’ I knew that my heart was in the game, and I wanted to push myself as far as I could go.”

She broke multiple records in her first season as a professional soccer player

Trinity originally committed to play collegiate soccer at UCLA before deciding to follow her older brother DJ to Washington State University (where he played basketball), according to The Seattle Times. But Trinity never played one soccer game at the college level: After her freshman season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to pursue a professional career in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Not only did Trinity launch her professional soccer career, but she also made history in the process. In January 2021, when Trinity was just 18, she became the youngest player (at the time) ever drafted in NWSL history when the Washington Spirit selected her second overall.

Related: Trinity Rodman Dominates Late with 2 Goals in USWNT Send-Off Ahead of World Cup

“This has been my dream forever, I've been playing soccer since I was 4 years old,” she said in an interview shortly after being drafted, per CNN.

Trinity continued to break records throughout her first season. In her NWSL debut in April 2021,  she scored a goal five minutes after entering the game — making her the youngest American goalscorer in league history. Then, when the Spirit played in the NWSL Championship in November 2021, Trinity became the youngest player in league history to record an assist in a playoff game.

“The kid is just brilliant,” former Spirit head coach Richie Burke said about Trinity after her record-making league debut. “She’s a machine as an athlete, just unbelievable.”

She is reportedly the highest-paid player in NWSL history

After Trinity’s remarkable rookie season with the Washington Spirit — where she won the NWSL championship, was named rookie of the year and received U.S. Soccer’s Young Female Player of the Year award — the team signed the talented forward to a four-year contract extension worth a reported $1.1 million. It was the largest package in NWSL history, per The Washington Post.

The contract extension would give Trinity an annual base salary of $281,000, per ESPN — which is more than soccer legends Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe’s $250,000.

“The way she performed in her first year allowed us to go to the club and push to get a new deal done,” Mike Senkowski, Trinity’s agent, told Sportico about the historic deal. “And credit to the team: They understood it. They agree they have a generational talent [in Rodman], and they wanted to reward that.”

“I’m that person that broke the mold for that,” Trinity told ESPN about her contract extension. “I’m paving the path for younger players and showing older players that this is what they should have gotten in the first place.”

She has a “rocky” relationship with her father

Dennis has been vocal about his shortcomings as a dad, even sharing in his 2019 documentary that his "major demon" is "trying to convince" himself that he's "a good dad."

“We're at the point now where it’s hard to picture him in our lives because for so long he wasn’t,” DJ told ESPN about their father in 2022.

But the retired NBA player surprised Trinity in November 2021 by attending one of her Washington Spirit playoff games. Dennis — who had only seen his daughter play soccer a handful of times, per ESPN — and Trinity embraced on the sidelines after the “extremely emotional” game.

"I remember thinking, 'Is this the start? Is this his effort to start coming to more games? Is this just to pop in?' I wasn't sure," Trinity told ESPN. "I think that's why I was so emotional because our relationship has been so rocky that I didn't know what that game meant."

Following the game, the pro soccer star opened up about their relationship on social media. “My dad doesn’t play a big role in my life at all and most people don't know that, we don’t see eye to eye on many things,” she wrote on Instagram, adding that “being in spotlights has been hard for us, him and me."

Trinity closed the heartfelt post by writing, “We don’t have the best relationship, but at the end of the day he's human I'm human ... he’s my dad, and I'm his little girl that will never change. I will improve and look forward everyday as I hope he does.”

But since that game, Trinity and her father haven’t spoken in months, the Los Angeles Times reported. But the soccer star is at peace with the current status of their relationship, she revealed.

“I’ve gotten closure with it all,” she told the outlet. “I know he’s proud of me. I truly do. He has his own things to deal with but at the end of the day, he’s communicated to me that he knows I was going to be here, and that’s all I need.”

She’s the youngest USWNT player to score two goals in one game

Trinity debuted on the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2022, joining legendary women’s soccer players Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and more. But the young forward quickly made a name for herself on the talented team — even scoring two goals in the team’s final match before the 2023 World Cup.

On July 9, 2023, the USWNT faced off against Wales in a World Cup send-off match. Though Trinity did not start in the game, team captain Lindsay Horan told her she would “come in and make a difference,” FOX Sports reported.

And Trinity did just that: The 21-year-old entered the game just after the half and scored two goals — making her the youngest USWNT player ever to “bag a brace” (or score two goals in one game). The USWNT won the match 2-0.

“It doesn’t matter if you start or come on in the 80th minute. You need to make a difference when you come on,” Trinity told FOX Sports following the game. “I think I did that today.”

She is the author of a children’s book

Off the soccer field, Trinity is a published author: The soccer star wrote the children’s book Wake Up and Kick It With Trinity Rodman, which was released in March 2022.

“This is a 'wake up' book to encourage kids from all walks of life to see the incredible possibilities in each and every day,” Trinity wrote on Instagram.

In a separate statement, she added: “Paving my own, unique path has never been easy, but I have always had an unmatchable work ethic, been able to ignore outside noise and wake up and tackle each day as it comes. I’m excited for this book to inspire the next generation to go out and achieve their goals and dreams, proving that nothing is out of reach if you are willing to work for it.”

The book was released in partnership with Adidas. As part of the collaboration, Adidas donated over 5,000 books to young children through various charities and community groups.

Her father’s basketball talents inspired how she plays soccer

Though Dennis had retired from the NBA by the time Trinity was born in 2002, she and her brother DJ grew up watching clips of him playing basketball, she said during a media conference, per the L.A. Times.

“I watched my dad play a lot more than people really know. I mean, my brother lived watching my dad’s clips,” Trinity revealed to the newspaper.

And though Trinity pursued an entirely different sport, her father’s skills on the court still inspired how she tackled her soccer games. The biggest takeaway from her father’s basketball skills was his ability to “hunt” for rebounds, steals and the like.

Related: Trinity Rodman Will ‘Never Forget’ the Advice Kobe Bryant Gave Her: ‘He Was an Amazing Human’ (Exclusive)

“Even if he wasn’t the first guy under the basket or he was next to Shaq [O’Neal], who was way bigger, way taller, he was going to get the rebound,” Trinity said during a press conference. “He was a freak of nature. He was an insane athlete, but at the end of the day, he, I think, was one of the smartest players at the time. He knew the game.”

And now, Trinity applies the same principles when she plays soccer, she shared.

“It’s hunting in front of the goal. It’s hunting when you lose the ball. And I think that’s a huge part of my game — regains, tracking back and being the first person to get a foot, a head, a knee, a shin on something that pops up."

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