Aside from being the daughter of one of the greatest defensive players the NBA has ever seen—sorry, Draymond—Trinity Rodman is really fucking good at soccer. How good are we talking here? Like…historic.
According to People, the 18-year-old made her auspicious National Women’s Soccer League debut on Saturday, and within minutes of checking into the game made history when she embarrassed the opposing goalie like so:
Nasty.
Rodman’s goal was her first for the Washington Spirit, who snatched her up months ago in the NWSL Draft. It was also historic because she became the youngest American in the history of the league to score a goal.
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“My team has helped me a lot, obviously, being a really young player and very new, it’s definitely a lot faster, girls are a lot stronger, a lot more intelligent, at this level,” Rodman said afterward. “I think just getting advice from my teammates in scrimmages and practices, I’ve been able to kind of think ahead. And I think that’s a huge part of what’s helped me in the game. “
As impressive as her debut outing was on Saturday, her latest feat isn’t even the first time the star forward has made NWSL history. In January, she became the youngest player ever drafted into the league when she was taken with the second overall pick by the Spirit. In order to do so, she opted to go pro instead of being a broke-ass student-athlete at Washington State.
“This has been my dream forever, I’ve been playing soccer since I was 4 years old,” she said at the time, with her mother Michelle by her side.
She also spoke of her desire to step from out 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. “I’m excited to pave my own path and get better throughout this journey.”
After Saturday’s introduction, she looks like she’s well on her way.
“The kid is just brilliant. She’s a machine as an athlete, just unbelievable,” Spirit coach Richie Burke said. “When you play against her, you train with her, you see how quickly she closes you down. She’s deceptively quick to close you down. But now she’s getting tactically better, too.”
I’m sure Dennis wouldn’t mind sharing his home with another star athlete, so it will be a joy to watch Trinity’s career continue to unfold.
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