Tragic Details About Olympic Athlete Trinity Rodman

Trinity Rodman is a rising soccer star whose career has taken her to the world's stage, especially since she got to bring her skills to the Olympics for the first time in 2024. Rodman recently went public with her athlete boyfriend, Trinity Benson, and it seems like nothing can stop her from becoming a sports sensation on the level of Hope Solo or Megan Rapinoe. 

As one of Dennis Rodman's three children, most would think that Trinity Rodman's journey through life and toward becoming a professional athlete would have been handed to her on a silver platter, but that's not the case. Yes, she managed to make it into the National Women's Soccer League when she was still a teenager, and yes, she has already distinguished herself as a standout at the Paris Olympics. However, while Rodman's athletic genes may have given her a natural leg up, she didn't have an easy time getting to where she is today, and she has faced plenty of hurdles along the way.

Trinity Rodman is the daughter of one of the most famous basketball players in NBA history, so it's easy to assume that she grew up in the lap of luxury and was given every advantage when it came to developing her own athletic talents, but that actually couldn't be further from the truth.

In an interview with The Spokesman-Review, Trinity Rodman's mother, Michelle Moyer, opened up about the financial hardships they had to deal with. She admitted, "There were times we were staying in motel rooms, and living out of the back of our old, beat-up truck." 

Unfortunately, it's public knowledge that Dennis Rodman failed to pay child support for Trinity and his son, Dennis Jr. (aka DJ). As reported by Slate in 2012, Rodman was $860,376 in arrears and was potentially going to be jailed for failure to pay up. Despite their financial conflicts though, Rodman has admitted that Moyer has stepped up to the plate as a parent. During his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame, he said (per People), "She's been a mother and a father and I've been very much appreciative of what she's done."

When Dennis Rodman showed up to watch his daughter Trinity play professional soccer, it seemed like an adorable father-daughter moment, but when Trinity Rodman discussed the moment on Instagram, she had mixed feelings. "My dad doesn't play a big role in my life at all and most people don't know that ... I go months if not years without his presence or communication," she explained in the caption.

Trinity Rodman was born in 2002, and her mother filed for divorce from her father in 2004. Their legal battle went on for a staggering eight years afterward, with their split finally resolving in 2012. And, according to an ESPN interview, the basketball star was absent from his children's lives for the bulk of that time.

Trinity has a great relationship with her mother, though, and attributes much of her success in life to that. "I would not be here if I didn't have the mom that I have today," she told ESPN.

Both the Rodman children and their dad have been pretty open about the fact that their relationships aren't what any of them hoped that they would be. In an in-depth interview with ESPN, Dennis Rodman explained that he regretted how he behaved as a father, and explained that his lack of role models as a child left him ill-prepared to parent his own kids. 

His own father was almost entirely absent, Rodman had only met him a few times. His mother wasn't affectionate, and she spent much of her time working to provide for the family. Rodman said that "It's hard for me to just gravitate to people like that ... it's difficult, even though inside I love them."

He further revealed that, because so many people around him consistently relied on him or asked him for material things, he had a difficult time separating his kids from the rest of the crowd that has surrounded him throughout his career.

Although Trinity Rodman made history when she was drafted into the NWSL at the age of 18, that wasn't part of her original career plan. She initially made a commitment to play soccer for UCLA, and then switched lanes to join Washington State. It was all for naught though, as the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the brakes on her debut season for college athletics. 

Clearly, all's well that ends well, and Rodman had more than enough mettle to make it as a pro. However, if she wasn't one of the most outrageously talented soccer players in the country, the coronavirus could have been a brutal blow to both her potential college career as well as a professional career. And while university will always be an option for Rodman in the future, a free ride to an excellent school that will help you develop your talents as an athlete is undeniably a missed opportunity.

Trinity Rodman has almost exclusively made headlines for her incredible accomplishments on the soccer field, so she was understandably gutted when one flub led to dire consequences for her team, the Washington Spirit. Rodman initially received a yellow card for a bad challenge against player Denise O'Sullivan, but upon review, the referees changed it to a red card.

Obviously, there is no guarantee that the Spirit would have made it to the playoffs had they still had Rodman playing for the team during the game, but her absence certainly didn't help matters. The Washington Spirit lost to the North Carolina Courage with a final score of 0-1, ending the season for Rodman's team. Trinity Rodman was understandably upset about her mistake, and she walked off the field crying as her teammates tried to comfort her. 

Rodman is unlikely to make such a grave error again, and she has already established herself as one of the burgeoning stars of Team USA at the Paris Olympics.