As Trinity Rodman stood on the touchline at PayPal Park early in the 56th of the NWSL Championship, it was hard not to notice she was giving the audience what they were waiting for. The noise from the sellout crowd swelled, their largest cheer of the night thus far audible despite the cacophony that is the signature of a sports broadcast.

Quite simply, she is the star many had traveled from different parts of the country to see, the standout who motivated others to turn on their screens on a Saturday evening. Rodman is the headline-grabber in a league full of them, the elite athlete commissioner Jessica Berman said the NWSL "will fight" to keep , the type of player who forces existential questions of a new type for a growing league. Rodman is a classic game-changer in a match that nee

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