Washington Spirit

Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman will be the highest-paid player in the history of the National Women's Soccer League after signing a new four-year deal worth $1.1 million, per Caitlin Murray of ESPN.

The club announced the extension Wednesday, keeping the forward under team control through 2024 with an option for 2025. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, her agency, Octagon Soccer, noted the new record:

Congrats to @trinity_rodman on signing a landmark deal with the @WashSpirit and becoming the highest-paid player in @NWSL HISTORY! 👏 pic.twitter.com/igmckoyFz9

— Octagon Soccer (@octagonsoccer) February 2, 2022

The 19-year-old is set to make $281,000 annually, per Emily Caron of Sportico, topping the $250,000 salary of United States women's national team stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.

Rodman accepted her first call-up with the USWNT in January and could get her first cap at the SheBelieves Cup later this month.

The daughter of Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman was the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NWSL draft. She exceeded expectations with seven goals and seven assists in 25 games (22 starts), earning the league's Rookie of the Year award. She also helped the Spirit win their first championship with a win over the Chicago Red Stars in the title game.

With the NWSL agreeing to its first-ever collective bargaining agreement on Monday, teams are now allowed to increase certain salaries using allocation money, moving beyond the max salary of $75,000.

Rodman becomes the biggest beneficiary of the change as she looks to become one of the league's brightest stars.

"We're incredibly excited to have Trin as a part of the Spirit family for at least the next three seasons," Spirit head coach Kris Ward said in the release. "She has a truly special career ahead of her and makes us a better club on all fronts."

The Spirit will be back in action for the 2022 Challenge Cup in March before the start of the NWSL regular season.    

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The NWSL's weirdest, most twisting, and in some ways darkest season yet came to a close today with what would have seemed an impossible result two months ago: The Washington Spirit, the team that's undergone some of the most turmoil in these last few months, are first-time champions.

To briefly sum up that turmoil, head coach Richie Burke was fired following an investigation into allegations of abuse detailed in reporting by the Washington Post. Soon, fans and players began calling for part-owner Steve Baldwin, who brought Burke in from his daughter's club team, to sell his shares of the team to co-owner Michele Kang, touching off an ugly and ongoing public battle. Then in late August, the Spirit took a huge hit in the standings after COVID-19 protocols forced them to forfeit two games.

After all that—and after going down a goal to Chicago late in the first half—they did it.

Throughout the first half, Chicago was the more dangerous side. They continued doing their Chicago thing, sitting obstinately deep in a 4-1-4-1 in defense, forcing Spirit attacks wide and shutting down attackers one-on-one as they looked for openings into the 18. The Red Stars are, above all, an extremely organized defensive side; they've sucked the life out of some really dangerous teams this season, including the top-seeded Thorns last week.

In contrast with what we've often seen from them, they also committed numbers forward, giving them the opportunity to pick up second balls in the 18. Mallory Pugh—absent last week thanks to COVID-19 protocol—was dangerous on both sides of the ball, often dropping deep to defend on the left wing, then cutting inside to set up teammates when the Red Stars regained possession. On the opposite flank, Rachel Hill had a similarly good work rate and managed to dribble past Tegan McGrady to send in a cross a handful of times. Late in first-half stoppage time, it was Hill who found the end of a cross by Arin Wright at the far post to head in the opening goal.

Ominously, though, Chicago lost two important players—Vanessa DiBernardo in the 13th minute, then Pugh at halftime—to injury in that first half. Losing Pugh, especially, boded poorly for what was to come.

The Spirit came out swinging, with rookie Trinity Rodman finding more of the ball and taking cracks from distance or playing teammates in. What enabled Rodman's increased participation, though, was deeper on the field, as forward Ashley Hatch dropped further back in defense to add a fourth body to a previously outnumbered Spirit midfield.

"We had to make some changes," said Red Stars midfielder Morgan Gautrat postgame, "and any time you make changes, you have a different flow to the game...with Hatch dropping into the midfield a bit more, it becomes overloaded, four vs. three."

Once they'd cracked Chicago's defensive block open, the Spirit sent in wave after wave of offense; they would end the half with 17 shots, compared to nine in the first half, 12 of which were from inside the box. In the 67th minute, Tierna Davidson fouled Tara McKeown in the box in a last-ditch defensive effort, conceding a penalty, which Andi Sullivan calmly placed low to the right side of keeper Cassie Miller.

With the game level, Chicago's sit-and-absorb strategy became a lot riskier. The Red Stars were already missing one of their forwards in Kealia Watt, who suffered an injury in the semifinal. With Pugh on the bench, their attacking options were few. Postgame, Chicago head coach Rory Dames added that Hill had picked up a knock in the first half and "pushed through another 20 [or] 25 minutes." The momentum was firmly on Washington's side.

Sure enough, in the first half of extra time, Rodman sent a killer long ball to the far post for Kelley O'Hara, who headed it in for her first goal of the season. Chicago found a couple of promising looks in garbage time, but thanks partially to luck and partially to championship MVP Aubrey Bledsoe, the Spirit staved off penalties.

There's no player who epitomizes the Spirit better than the 19-year-old Rodman, who flipped into sicko mode in the second half. Some of her shots would have looked like frustration shots coming from a different player, but Rodman has such ferocity and swagger that you get the impression she believes—correctly—that she could put one away from 25 yards at any moment.

At the end of a long, strange, sometimes painful season for the Spirit, it's that refusal to roll over that put them over the line.

"The resiliency and perseverance of this team is pretty incredible," said O'Hara postgame. "It's something I haven't seen from a team I've been on."

Trinity Rodman got a huge surprise when her father, NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, attended her NWSL playoff game Sunday. The 19-year-old Washington Spirit forward opened up about her relationship with her father in an emotional Instagram post.

"This last game was an extremely emotional one. Yes Dennis Rodman showed up to an Nwsl game, but also my dad, after YEARS surprised me at a big game in my career, I was shocked, overwhelmed, happy, sad, everything," Trinity wrote.

"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 continued. "I go months if not years without his presence or communication. Being in spotlights has been hard for us, him and me."

The Spirit topped the North Carolina Courage 1-0 to advance in the NWSL playoffs. Trinity shared an embrace with her father after the game, which was the picture she posted.

"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," her post concluded.

The Spirit will face OL Reign in the semifinals on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Multiple players have accused former Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke of verbal and emotional abuse, according to a report by Molly Hensley-Clancy of the Washington Post.

The National Women's Soccer League club announced Tuesday that Burke was stepping down as head coach amid "health concerns" and was being re-assigned to the front office. He was reportedly fired by the organization Wednesday, according to Meg Linehan of The Athletic, after the Washington Post story was released.

Former Spirit player Kaiya McCullough said that Burke not only screamed at her constantly during training sessions but also made racially insensitive jokes toward her.

"I was 100 percent in a situation where I was being emotionally abused by Richie," McCullough told Hensley-Clancy. "He created this environment where I knew I wasn’t playing as well, because I was so, so scared to mess up and be yelled at. It crippled my performance, and it made me super anxious."

"He made me hate soccer," she added.

The former UCLA star left the team in September 2020 to play in Germany, explaining at the time that the move served as a "mental health break," via BBC Sport.

"I just wanted to put myself in a position to be the absolute best that I could be, and in the environment I was in I just didn't think that was happening for me," McCullough said.

Two other former Spirit players told the Washington Post they left the club because of Burke, describing him as "abusive." They have chosen to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

Burke had been Washington's coach since 2018 and led the squad to a 5-3-5 record to begin the 2021 season. He previously served as the head coach of D.C. United's Under-23 team before moving to the NWSL.

   

Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NWSL draft, scored a 60th-minute goal in her league debut in a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Courage on Saturday in the NWSL Challenge Cup.

Trinity Rodman scores on her NWSL debut 🔥 @brfootball

She's the youngest player drafted in league history and the daughter of former NBA star Dennis (via @NWSL) pic.twitter.com/aVVRMkNVh7

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 10, 2021

The 18-year-old replaced striker Kumi Yokoyama (who scored earlier in the match) in the 55th minute.

Five minutes later, she took an excellent pass from midfielder Natalie Jacobs and made history by becoming the youngest-ever goalscorer in the league's existence.

The youngest 🇺🇸 goalscorer in league history. pic.twitter.com/kojHkQkw4h

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 10, 2021

Rodman was set to play soccer at Washington State beginning in the fall of 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the season. She decided to turn pro instead and became the youngest-ever player drafted in NWSL history.

"My mind was already there before I even went to college, but then as soon as I got there I realized that I could totally be pushed to a higher level," Rodman told Caitlin Murray of The Guardian. "Why wouldn't you want to take an opportunity to get better than you would have in college?"

Rodman is already quite good. Of note, she scored nine goals (including five against Honduras in group play) for Team USA at the 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. She added two goals apiece in a 6-0 semifinal win over Honduras and a 4-1 victory over Mexico.

Rodman is the daughter of Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman. She and the rest of the Spirit are set to take the pitch next against Racing Louisville to continue NWSL Challenge Cup play. The match will start Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C.'s Audi Field.

There will reportedly be a presidential feel to the new investment group for the Washington Spirit.

According to Steven Goff of the Washington Post, Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush Hager are part of a group investing in the NWSL team.

Clinton is the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bush Hager is the daughter of former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush.

They aren't the only notable names in the investment group, as former Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes and former U.S. World Cup goalkeeper Briana Scurry are also reportedly involved. Dawes won a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games, while Scurry won two gold medals and the 1999 World Cup during her illustrious career.

Meg Linehan and Pablo Maurer of The Athletic also reported the news, noting managing partner Steve Baldwin was looking for outside investments.

The Spirit finished the 2019 season in fifth place in the NWSL table with 34 points on nine wins, eight losses and seven draws.

The NWSL will start its 2021 season with the Challenge Cup that lasts from April 9 through May 8. The regular season starts May 15.

There's another Rodman in the world of professional sports.

Trinity Rodman, whose father is five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, was taken with the second overall pick in the 2021 NWSL draft by the Washington Spirit on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/WashSpirit/status/1349517972231041026

The 18-year-old was a member of the women's soccer program at Washington State, though she never played a game for the Cougars because their fall season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Obviously this has been my dream forever," Rodman said on the league's live stream. "I think right now, with COVID and everything, honestly a lot of people can say its not the right time [to turn pro], but right now I think it’s a perfect time to get in there and learn and become a better player."

Rodman represented the United States on a number of youth national teams. Her most recent appearance came last March when she helped the U.S. under-20 squad to the 2020 CONCACAF women's championship by scoring eight goals and adding six assists.

With the Spirit, she will link up with Kelley O'Hara and Emily Sonnett, who were members of the 2019 Women's World Cup champion national team.

She is the second teenager to be drafted into the NWSL after 19-year-old Sophia Smith was selected by the Portland Thorns with the first pick last year.

Racing Louisville drafted North Carolina defender/midfielder Emily Fox with the No. 1 pick.