CARSON — Trinity Rodman entered the U.S. Women’s National Team camp with a lot of uncertainty.
Rodman’s contract with the Washington Spirit expired after last season, so she started 2026 without an NWSL contract and more importantly, with the term “unattached” listed next to her name on the U.S. Soccer training camp press release.
“I never thought I’d be in a national (team) camp with no contracts signed,” Rodman said Friday. “That was very weird for me.”
Thursday, the weirdness gave way to relief as Rodman signed a new three-year contract with the Washington Spirit, reportedly making her the highest-paid female soccer player.
“I’m very happy now and I can finally just put my head down and know that I’m staying with the Spirit and can focus on the season,” she said. “I think as it progressed a little bit, it was like inching closer and closer to kind of the decision that I wanted to make, but there was still so much happening with the (NWSL) PA (Players’ Association) and the back and forth, so you couldn’t be too sure.
“I tried to stay in the present moment and coming into camp, it was weird reading unattached (next to my name), but I was very focused on my first camp back, leadership role, lots of new faces and just coming in and doing my job.”
Adding to everything, Rodman, a Newport Beach native, will also serve as captain for Saturday’s exhibition match against Paraguay at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I spoke with Trin at the beginning of camp to tell her she’d be the captain in the first game,” USWNT coach Emma Hayes said. “We spoke about the expectations of those things in front of the group and all the little details that we were looking for and one of the things I spoke to her about is that when there is an absence of so many camps and so much leadership, how are you transferring those values and those customs, a little bit around our culture, so that everybody, you know, we can steer everybody in the direction that we want.”
Rodman has been absent from the national team camp recently. She’s made only one appearance since the Americans won the Olympic Gold medal in Paris (Aug. 10, 2024).
“Obviously, I haven’t been in a camp for almost a year, so I have to like kind of relearn everything that I missed, which has been an overload,” Rodman said. “But I’m feeling good, I’m feeling happy. Very blessed to be in this situation and to be captain and to have that armband is an honor in itself, (we’re) missing a lot of leadership roles on the team in this camp.
“I’m just trying to do my best at kind of connecting all of the players because there’s a lack of connection, obviously, with the lack of playing time with each other and these lineups have been mixed up so much. Emma was just kind of telling me to connect with the players, have those conversations. If you see somebody’s kind of overwhelmed or struggling, give attention to that and kind of relate, which I can, because I still get really nervous and even for tomorrow (Saturday), I’m nervous because it’s almost been a year.”
Hayes called in a 26-player roster, with all the players coming from NWSL rosters. The next camp in March, which will lead into the SheBelieves Cup, will feature more of the players who play professionally in Europe.
“I always approach things like it’s the day before a World Cup final and every game should be played with that same intention, no matter the starting lineup,” Hayes said. “Yes, we have a much different group than we would ordinarily have, but what a great development opportunity for so many of them.
“Not all of them, I think, will compete to be part of the group that qualifies for 2027 (Women’s World Cup), but I’ve said it countless times, my job is to prepare players, not just for a single tournament, but to line up successive competitive teams. Some of these players, I think that we’ll see could be stars of 2031 as well as some that will push into 2028. I think we have to be mindful of that, when you put together groups of players that haven’t competed together on a regular basis, they don’t have the connections. Sometimes it will look clunky. There might be moments that they’re so keen to prove because there’s limited opportunities, but as I’ve said to the players, just have a great time representing our crest, keep applying everything we’re asking you to do and do it knowing that mistakes are all part of what will get you to the next step.”
USWNT vs. PARAGUAY
When: Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park
How to watch: TNT, truTV
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