“I put a hard exterior on. But inside, I’m really sensitive. I’m really emotional.”

Trinity Rodman

At just 21, the record-breaking soccer star, who happens to be Dennis Rodman’s daughter, is taking the field in the FIFA Women’s World Cup

By Paulina Prosnitz

In 2022, the highest-paid player in the National Women’s Soccer League (N.W.S.L.) was not the two-time World Cup champion Alex Morgan, or the headline-grabbing Megan Rapinoe, or Brazil’s record-smashing Marta Vieira da Silva. It was a 19-year-old rookie from Newport Beach, California, who had never played in a World Cup. On February 2, 2022, the Washington Spirit signed Trinity Rodman to a $1.1 million contract, breaking the record for the highest-paid player in the league’s history.

The deal followed a season in which Rodman led the Spirit to their first-ever championship. In the 2021 draft, Rodman, then 18, had been selected second overall by the Spirit, making her the youngest player ever drafted to the league. In her debut match against the North Carolina Courage, she scored within five minutes, swiftly earning the distinction of the youngest American goal scorer in N.W.S.L. history. That season she was named Rookie of the Year and the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Young Female Player of the Year.