Soccer star Trinity Rodman just made history. After her previous contract with the NWSL's Washington Spirit expired at the end of the 2025 season—which made her a free agent and able to be picked up by any team in the league—the Spirit announced today that Trinity will return to the soccer club for another three years. The new contract also brought a new salary, and while the figure has not been publicly disclosed, the record-setting amount makes Trinity the highest paid professional women's soccer player in the world.
"The community and the feeling and the family is something you can't replace and a big reason I stayed with the Spirit," said Trinity during the announcement press conference at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. "Developing and maturing and learning and failing at Spirit and in D.C. has become so much of my legacy and my story, and there's so much more I have to give and to do at Spirit. The fanbase, the stadium…I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Trinity was drafted No. 2 by the Spirit, which is based in Washington, D.C., in 2021 and has spent the entirety of her career with the team. "She's the blueprint," said Spirit team owner Michele Kang at the press conference. "She lifted this club's profile and our reach globally. We worked hard on how to retain Trinity for over a year."
Of course Trinity, who's known for her vibrant, fun box braids on the soccer field, marked the historic occasion with a one-of-a-kind look. She wore a chic Willy Chavarria suit (but with shorts instead of pants!), a cropped button-down, necktie, and tiger Adidas sneakers with white socks. The look was expertly curated and put together by celebrity stylist Karla Welch.
"I love that it's sophisticated," Trinity tells me about her ensemble. "I've never really done a suit look. It's like business, power, everything, but it still has my flair and my spice, like my Adidas sneakers, and we got the bold makeup, the pony, rings, and the nails."
For her beauty, Trinity had to go just as big for the moment. Case in point? She had none other than Sir John, aka Beyonce's makeup artist, beat her face to complete poreless perfection.
Once the press conference wrapped, I sat with Trinity in her green room to get a sense of how she's feeling about this momentous occasion. Spoiler: She's still taking it all in. Below, the 23-year-old talks with Cosmo about making history, the emotions and impact that come with it, and of course how she and tennis pro boyfriend Ben Shelton plan to celebrate.
Congrats on the new contract! When you walked up to the press conference, you said that you were feeling emotional. What was coming up for you in that moment?
Just how far I've come. It's mind blowing to me. Some days, I literally feel like I'm still a rookie in the league, and then other days, I see stuff like that, and I realize I've done so much in this time of still being so young that it just makes me very proud of myself. And I don't get to say that often, just because everything's moving so fast. It was a proud self moment of like, Wow, I did that.
When you look back on your rookie year-self, what do you think she would say about this moment?
Probably, "How?!" I'm thinking about how I was my rookie year: I didn't know anything; I was a little shit, if I'm being honest. It's crazy to me, because, again, I'm still only 23, but 23 to 18, there has just been so much growth and I've learned so much and I hope to continue to learn. I would ask myself and be like, "How did this happen? What is going on?"
Is there a part of you that is unsurprised because this is exactly what you envisioned for yourself? Or is it kind of like a happy accident, in a sense?
You can't really ever predict this, even if you know you're a good soccer player—I don't think you could ever even fathom all these milestones. It was always a goal of mine to create a legacy and to inspire, but like, not on this level.
How would you describe the legacy you want to leave?
I just keep saying empowerment. In so many environments you can, especially as a girl and woman, feel very insecure, like a shell of yourself, or just comparing yourself to other people. So just bringing others up while also focusing on yourself. I think it's the biggest thing that I want people to remember about me. It's not even the soccer, like she was a great soccer player. But what else?
You said in one of the promo videos [played during the conference] that it's really important for you to let little girls know that you're a real person, fun, and have a personality. Tell me why that's a priority for you.
I always just bring it back to how I felt growing up. I was very insecure, and I always was looking at the person next to me and finding something that I wasn't as good at, or didn't look like, and I feel like that's so normal. I just hate that narrative. I hate that that's a thing. I always think why do we feel that way? We're all special in our own ways, and I think we just need to acknowledge that more.
What are some ways that you've worked through some of those things?
I think it's just affirmations and reassurance to myself, whether that's journaling or just telling myself something like, "I'm gonna try this today" or "I'm gonna wear this today." Just continuing to reassure myself that I'm unique in my own way.
Do you have a go-to affirmation for when you have those moments?
Yeah, my boyfriend actually helped me. It's, "I'm the driver, I'm in the driver's seat, or I'm the writer of my book." Those circulate through my brain, reminding me that I have complete control over what I put out and how my story plans out. It reminds me that life isn't one thing, it's so many other things, and you create that and you're as successful as you want to be.
Tell me about the moment when Ben gave you that nugget.
When I was going through the injury [this past season]. I was very scared to step away from my team because I was scared they might think, 'Oh, Trinity just thinks she can do what she wants. She can leave and focus on herself. That's selfish.' And Ben was like, "Your health is everything. You could get hurt and be done playing soccer, then what?" And so he just reminded me that I need to prioritize myself before it's too late. And he said: "You are the driver. If you want to turn left, you're gonna turn left. Do you want to crash or do you want to keep going on the road?"
I love that it was so organic. Do you and Ben have plans to celebrate or have y'all already done so?
For us, it's so hard to celebrate literally anything. Even for our birthdays, we celebrated them, like the week before and the week after. We celebrate on the phone. Thankfully for preseason, with Spirit, I'll be going to Florida, and he'll be there at the same time. So maybe we'll do a cute little dinner or something.
This interview has been lightly edited for space and clarity.
