U.S. Soccer Star Trinity Rodman Once Had a Really Unflattering Nickname on the Pitch
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2002-present
Who Is Trinity Rodman?
Professional soccer player Trinity Rodman plays for the NWSL club the Washington Spirit and the USWNT. She is also the daughter of five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman. After starting play at age 4, Rodman quickly became a soccer phenom, winning multiple national championships with her youth club team and participating in the U.S. national program before turning pro in 2021. She has since won an NWSL championship with the Spirit and competed at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She is expected to play with the U.S. team at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Trinity Rain Moyer-Rodman
BORN: May 20, 2002
BIRTHPLACE: Newport Beach, California
PARENTS: Dennis Rodman and Michelle Moyer
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Taurus
Parents Dennis Rodman and Michelle Moyer
Trinity Rain Moyer-Rodman was born in Newport Beach, California, on May 20, 2002. Her father is Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Dennis Rodman, who played in the NBA from 1986 through 2000 and won five championships. Her mother is Rodman’s ex-wife, Michelle Moyer, who filed for divorce when Trinity was only a toddler.
According to ESPN, Moyer’s divorce proceedings with Dennis dragged on for eight years until 2012, and he was largely absent from the lives of Trinity and her older brother Dennis Jr.—known as D.J.—during this time.
Moyer raised Trinity, D.J., and her older daughter, Teyana Lima, from a previous marriage. The family struggled financially and moved roughly 10 times in a decade. At one point, the four lived at a Comfort Inn in Orange County, California, with Trinity and D.J. eating waffles in the hotel lobby for breakfast. Lima helped care for Trinity and D.J., taking them to school and sports practices.
Even as Trinity’s athletic career blossomed, her father has remained mainly out of her life. He surprised her by appearing at a 2021 NWSL playoff game. However, Trinity has said they still go months or even years without speaking to each other.
“Like I’ve said before, I’ve gotten closure with it all. I know he’s proud of me. I truly do,” she told the Los Angeles Times in July 2023. “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.”
Youth Soccer Champion
Despite her uneasy financial situation, Moyer was determined to give her children an opportunity to play sports. While D.J. gravitated to basketball like his father, Trinity showed a competitive streak in soccer at a young age. “I realized that soccer was going to be my thing when I couldn’t accept that people could play a sport just for fun,” said Rodman, who, even at age 4, was focused on scoring goals and winning all her games. A handful of years later, she began to establish herself as one of California’s most promising young athletes.
When Rodman was 9, she joined the SoCal Blues youth club team. According to her coach, Greg Baker, Trinity was “one of the most athletic kids in Southern California since the day she stepped on the field.” Baker believed in Rodman’s ability so much that he helped cover her annual dues and fees, which totaled thousands of dollars.
According to Baker, Rodman could juggle a soccer ball on her foot at a rate of 120 beats per minute on a metronome. However, she also habitually lost possession during games, leading to the unflattering nickname “Turnover Trinity.” Thanks to film study and extra passing practice, Rodman was able to shed this moniker and lead the team to unprecedented success. Rodman and the Blues won four national youth championships in the Elite Clubs National League.
As a high school freshman, Rodman played one season of soccer at Corona del Mar High School before transferring to JSerra Catholic High School and focusing solely on her club team. The attacker also drew attention by playing internationally for the United States in the Under-17 and Under-20 divisions.
The high-scoring forward impressed NCAA scouts and first committed to the University of California, Los Angeles, but eventually signed with Washington State University in December 2019.
However, Rodman didn’t play a single collegiate match after the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of her 2020 freshman season. She decided to turn pro immediately instead.
Pro Career in the NWSL
Despite her lost college season, the Washington Spirit of the NWSL saw enough potential in Rodman to make her the second overall pick in the 2021 draft. Then, at 18, she became the league’s youngest draft selection ever. Because of the success of young players like Rodman, the NWSL has since eliminated its 18-year age restriction.
Rodman fit in from the start with her more experienced teammates and opponents, scoring seven goals and adding seven assists as a rookie. She led the Spirit to the NWSL championship match on November 20, when she assisted Kelley O’Hara’s goal in extra time to give the team its first league title.
Named the NWSL Rookie of the Year, Rodman signed the largest contract in league history in February 2022: a four-year agreement worth $1.1 million, or $281,000 annually, plus the opportunity to earn more through endorsements. “I’m that person that broke the mold for that. I’m paving the path for younger players and showing older players that this is what they should have gotten in the first place,” Rodman later told ESPN.
Rodman is now considered one of the league’s top players. She was even nominated for the Ballon d’Or Féminin award, given annually to the world's top women’s soccer player, in 2022.
U.S. Women’s National Team and World Cup
Rodman eventually joined the senior U.S. national team, which was made famous by players like Mia Hamm and Alex Morgan.
In January 2022, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced Rodman was part of the 25-player training camp roster ahead of that year’s SheBelieves Cup. “We don’t want to rush anything. We’ve got to be patient,” Andonovski said of Rodman, then 19. “She is still a young player, but we do want to expose her to the environment where she can get her feet wet a little bit.”
On February 17, Rodman earned her first cap with the squad, playing 30 minutes in a scoreless draw against the Czech Republic. She scored her first international goal on April 12 in a 9-0 win over Uzbekistan.
Rodman helped the USWNT qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Despite lofty expectations as the two-time defending champion, the U.S. barely escaped group play and lost in the Round of 16 to Sweden on penalty kicks.
Rodman is expected to make the U.S. roster for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games starting in July in Paris. She is considered one of the team’s top young stars following the recent retirements of players like Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, and Julie Ertz.
Height and Stats
According to her Washington Spirit team bio, Rodman stands 5 feet, 8 inches.
As of May 2, 2024, Rodman has appeared in 35 matches with the USWNT, recording seven goals and six assists.
In NWSL play, Rodman has appeared in 68 regular season matches through her first four years with the team and recorded the following stats, according to league records:
Minutes played: 5,713
Shots: 169
Goals: 17
Assists: 14
Tackles: 84
Book and Life Outside Soccer
Rodman partnered with apparel brand Adidas to publish a children’s book titled Wake Up and Kick It with Trinity Rodman in March 2022. The book details some challenges Rodman faced during her soccer career and aims to inspire kids to pursue their passion, no matter their obstacles or doubts.
ESPN featured Rodman as part of its Fifty/50 series that same year. The stories celebrated the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX, which outlawed discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities receiving federal assistance and gave women an equal opportunity to play sports.
Rodman has shared few details about her personal life. She was romantically linked to Chris Kuzemka, a college basketball player for Loyola University Maryland, in 2023.
Quotes
When I say Rodman, it’s not my dad’s name. It’s my name. It’s my brother’s name. It’s my family’s name. And it’s ultimately the story that got me to where I am today, and I love that.
The best way to deal with pressure is to just ignore it.
It doesn’t matter if you start or come on in the 80th minute. You need to make a difference when you come on.
Men could be more athletic, they could be more skilled. But at the end of the day, we’re all doing the same job. We’re all putting in the hours. We’re all putting in the work. We’re all running our bodies into the ground.
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