In September, the U.S. women’s national team said farewell to two legends and also kicked off their post-World Cup era with two strong wins over South Africa. While attention was duly paid to Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe as they head into retirement, the breakout performance of the month came from 21-year-old Trinity Rodman.

Rodman scored in each match, finishing definitive strikes that helped assuage fears the USWNT might never get its confidence back. She showcased her collaborative instincts, working well with Alex Morgan in particular, and a newfound confidence on the international stage.

In the wake of Rapinoe’s exit, the rise of yet another explosive winger talent gives the U.S. not only another weapon, but also the next link across generations of players.

Tackling responsibility

Rodman has 24 caps with the U.S. senior team, with 14 of those appearances coming in 2023. Of her 10 U.S. starts, eight of them have also come in this calendar year. Former head coach Vlatko Andonovski brought her into the fold slowly, even as she excelled at the NWSL level from a very young age.

This year, Rodman was asked to take a huge leap forward in minutes played during the World Cup due to injuries that Andonovski couldn’t have anticipated. At one point in the lead-up to the tournament, he intended to play a front three of Mallory Swanson, Catarina Macario and Sophia Smith, with Macario assuming a false No. 9 role to create space for the wingers.

Ultimately, Swanson and Macario had to miss the World Cup due to injuries. Andonovski shifted Smith to the left wing, inserted Alex Morgan at center forward and brought Rodman in on the right. Based on the players he had available, the move was the right call, but Rodman had to learn on the job on the biggest international stage. And when the team struggled to score, outside pressure on players working within a rigid system continued to grow.

“It was tough for the younger players, having that be their first experience,” Megan Rapinoe said before her farewell match. “Having the narrative around the team in a lot of ways be so, so negative was really hard, like this was their dream come true [being criticized].

“I feel like the way that the other players handled it, how they handled themselves and how they approached preparation for the games and their professionalism was amazing,” she continued. “And I think the World Cup will be a great learning lesson for them moving forward.”

As Rapinoe pointed out, it’s sometimes easier to be excited about a new generation of players when everything is working right away. But Rodman’s ability to grow through adversity will surely prepare her for the Olympics and her future with the national team.

Playing with freedom

In Megan Rapinoe’s final press conference as a member of the USWNT, she imparted a few words of wisdom to the next generation.

“It’s up to you, like this is your career,” she said. “This is your special talent. So like, really lean into that and take ownership of that.”

The U.S. players didn’t always look like they were enjoying themselves on the field in 2023, with a conservative game plan and outside pressure turning the former World No. 1 team into a more suppressed version of itself.

“It’s not worth hiding any part of yourself or playing it safe,” Rapinoe said. “It drives me nuts whenever I hear ‘Well, the coach wants me to’ — Well is it working? If it’s not, you’re the one playing, you’re the one that’s going to be benched if it doesn’t work.”

Earlier this year, those words might have felt more like a warning, but they’re also a responsibility a player like Rodman is clearly taking to heart on the pitch. She lined up on the right side of the attack in both September friendlies, and she clearly felt comfortable tracking back to defend and slipping in centrally to fill space every time Morgan shifted to pull defenders wide.

.@trinity_rodman wasn't gonna be left out of a first-half goal party 🎉 pic.twitter.com/HCcCTaeTc5

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 22, 2023

That freedom of movement paid dividends, allowing her to meet the moment and score a goal in each game. It was no secret that the USWNT’s younger players desperately wanted to send their friends and idols out with a goal, and Rodman was the first player to try to find Ertz and then Rapinoe in South Africa’s penalty area.

Rodman clearly has the technical ability to succeed at a high level, but she’s also showing she has the intangibles at the core of the USWNT’s identity from generation to generation.

A little bit of iconography

The moment that Rodman’s shot hit the back of the net in the USWNT’s second game against South Africa in Chicago felt like something of a full circle moment. Rodman’s last name still carries a lot of weight in the Windy City, where her father Dennis won three NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1995-98. The young star has said those family ties can at times get in the way of her becoming her own player.

W̶i̶n̶d̶y̶ ̶ City
Trindy @trinity_rodman opens the scoring! pic.twitter.com/OJyGyZFn9S

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) September 24, 2023

But Rodman is building her own profile as part of one of the most iconic women’s sports teams in the U.S. She’s known for staying after matches to sign autographs for fans, even after difficult results at the World Cup, and she has helped keep her NWSL club, the Washington Spirit, in the playoff race in a year full of transition.

“Before I was on a team, nobody knew about me, they only knew about Abby [Wambach] and Mia [Hamm] and the rest of them,” said Rapinoe. “So I think just that you’ve got to make your own way.”

With a new U.S. coach arriving in December, Rodman will again have to prove herself at the highest level. Based on her performances in September, she looks like a player ready to make her stamp on the USWNT by building on the legacies of those who came before.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Stakes are sky-high for Wednesday night's Cy-Hawk Series clash, as undefeated No. 10 Iowa State welcomes unbeaten No. 11 Iowa to Ames for the highest-ranked NCAA women's basketball matchup in the cross-state rivalry's history.

"[If] you grew up in the state, just there's nothing like it," Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of the historic series. "You've dreamed, you've watched those big football matchups when you're little, you watched the basketball games when you were little, and to get to be in one — boy, it doesn't get much better."

"[It's] one of those things where it truly is a rivalry, because teams [go] back and forth and have their streaks and wins and losses," echoed Cyclones boss Bill Fennelly.

The red-hot Hawkeyes enter Wednesday's game with the head-to-head advantage having won three straight against the Cyclones — and eight of the last nine in the series.

That said, the Cyclones have the nation's leading scorer on their side, with junior center Audi Crooks's 27.6 points per game showcasing unmatched efficiency in the 2025/26 NCAA season.

"Audi's tough," Jensen said about the Iowa State star. "She's just really, really incredible…. When you let her get it, she's pretty accurate."

How to watch Iowa vs. Iowa State in the 2025 Cy-Hawk Series

The No. 11 Hawkeyes will visit the No. 10 Cyclones in the 2025 edition of the Cy-Hawk Series at 7 PM ET on Wednesday, with live coverage airing on ESPN.

The Washington Spirit are all in on forward Trinity Rodman, with club GM Nathan Minion telling reporters that the 2025 NWSL runners-up are working "pretty much daily" to re-sign the free agent despite salary cap concerns.

"I think everyone's trying to work together to get a deal in place," said Minion, acknowledging that the NWSL and the Spirit are actively working with each other to retain the 23-year-old star. "[We're] trying to figure this out and trying to get a resolution that can hopefully keep Trinity here with us for a long time."

"The reality is our current salary cap structure — it was built for a different era of women's soccer," said the DC club's recently hired president of soccer operations Haley Carter. "We're going to need mechanisms that allow NWSL clubs to compete for not only players from overseas, but our own players."

The NWSL vetoed the multi-million dollar offer from the Washington Spirit to keep Rodman last week, with the NWSLPA subsequently filing a grievance claiming the league violated the USWNT attacker's free agency rights by blocking the deal.

"These are nuanced conversations, and I would love to just toss the salary cap out the window and pay the players," said Carter. "But we also have to appreciate that, pragmatically, it isn't always payroll that's going to keep our athletes here. It's investment in other things as well."

"We are going to have to start getting creative, I believe, because it's bigger than just one team," continued Carter. "It's bigger than just one player. It's about the league's ability to keep its best players in this league as we continue to grow."

The NWSL transfer and hiring market is ramping up, with both the 14 existing clubs and two incoming expansion teams busy bolstering their 2026 ranks just weeks into the offseason.

Last week, Bay FC announced that England U-23 head coach Emma Coates will become the 2024 expansion club's second-ever manager, with fellow England youth national team and WSL staffer Gemma Davies joining Coates's NWSL crew as an assistant coach.

"I'm truly honored and super excited to build on the strong foundations that have already been established and to implement a clear identity both on and off the pitch," Coates said in Thursday's statement. "[Bay FC] shares my passion for people, performance, and culture, which I believe are fundamental to sustained success."

"Emma is not only an excellent coach, but she also has a proven track record of developing players to compete at the highest levels of both the domestic and international game," remarked Bay Collective CEO Kay Cossington. "Emma has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring players and teams to the next level with clarity, care and purpose. She understands what it takes to build environments where people thrive and perform at their best."

"Bay FC is gaining not only a great coach, but also someone that understands women's football and our athletes inside and out."

While Coates will wrap up her nearly three years at England's U-23 helm to join Bay FC in the coming days, three other NWSL teams are still searching for permanent sideline leaders this offseason, as the Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns continue to conduct coaching searches.

The Thorns joined the leaderless ranks in late November, parting ways with manager Rob Gale following the team's NWSL semifinals exit.

Reigning WNBA champion A'ja Wilson picked up yet another honor this week, as TIME crowned the four-time league MVP its 2025 Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.

The Las Vegas Aces center became the first player in WNBA history to win a championship, Finals MVP, league MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, with the 29-year-old sweeping the league's awards this year.

"This year, I collected everything," Wilson said in her TIME interview. "I don't really talk much sh-t — I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it."

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Wilson described the Aces' midseason slump as a focusing agent in her 2025 TIME Athlete of the Year feature, with the skid launching the team on course to their third championship win in four years.

"I think 2025 was a wake-up call that I needed, to let me know that I can't be satisfied with anything," said Wilson. "There's somebody out there that's going to try to take your job. You need to make sure you're great at it, every single day."

Wilson also spoke to the strained relationship between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose leadership came under fire in October as CBA negotiations kicked into high gear.

"I only know Cathy by when she hands me trophies," Wilson said. "If that's her true self, thank you for showing that. Thank you for saying those things. Because now we see you for who you are, and now we're about to work even harder at this negotiation."

With the latest CBA extension expiring on January 9th, Wilson promised that the players are all-in on negotiations through the holiday season.

“All of us are going to be at the table, and we're not moving until we get exactly what we want."