Trinity Rodman returns to USWNT for January camp even though she isn’t with a club right now

Though the U.S. men’s soccer team will command the lion’s share of the spotlight this year, the women’s team isn’t scaling anything back.

That starts Jan. 17, when Emma Hayes gathers 26 players for the program’s annual winter training camp in suburban Los Angeles. It will kick off the 41st year of the women’s team’s existence, and will include games against Paraguay on Jan. 24 in Carson, Calif., and Jan. 27 against Chile in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Because the camp takes place outside of official national team windows, all 26 players will come from the NWSL. And because Gotham FC is playing in FIFA’s inaugural Women’s Champions Cup in London at the end of the month, the club’s many national team stars — such as Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, and Jaedyn Shaw — were not called up.

They’re in Europe already, training for a few weeks in Marbella, Spain, before heading north to England. (In fact, they’re at the same complex where the Union will be for part of their preseason camp later this month.)

That said, Hayes’ squad has a few veterans and many newcomers, which is no surprise. January camps outside of World Cup years often are that way.

But one name stands out: Trinity Rodman. It’s her first national team call-up since April because of injuries, and she will arrive as a free agent — officially “unattached” on the U.S. roster — since her Washington Spirit contract expired at the end of December.

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Rodman’s future is by far the biggest story in the women’s soccer world right now. All signs are she’d like to stay in Washington, but she’d also like to be paid what she’s worth — and she’s worth a lot.

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said at the league’s championship game in November, when Washington lost to Gotham, that “we want Trinity in our league, and we will fight for her.”

Spirit owner Michele Kang also has shown she wants to keep Rodman in town. Kang put together a back-loaded contract offer that would fit within NWSL salary rules by cashing in on the next cycle of broadcast rights. But Berman vetoed it, with Bloomberg reporting in early December that she said it “violated the spirit of the rules.”

This sparked an enormous outcry from fans, media, and the players’ union. The union filed a grievance claiming the decision violated “at least five different sections” of the collective bargaining agreement, according to The Athletic.

» READ MORE: The USMNT, USWNT, and your kid’s youth team are all different. U.S. Soccer is fine with that.

The league soon retreated some — but only some. It proposed a new “High Impact Player” status that would allow teams to pay stars up to $1 million beyond the salary cap, and in early December, the league’s board of governors approved the change.

It quickly emerged that the new rule was not so simple, and that blew up in the NWSL’s face. Unlike Major League Soccer’s Designated Player rule, the NWSL’s version put restrictions on what kinds of players can earn the status.

They included being ranked in voting for honors bestowed by the media, including France Football’s Ballon d’Or top 30, the Guardian’s top 100, and ESPN’s top 40.

Many women’s soccer journalists have no interest in having influence over players’ salaries like that. It also matters that those rankings’ voting pools skew heavily toward Europe, including journalists, coaches, and former players.

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This promptly was called out by one American soccer industry veteran for having “outsourced the valuation of players for an American soccer league to European media.”

The league also counts SportsPro Media’s “Top 150 Most Marketable Athletes.” That promptly was bashed by fans as being even more subjective than journalists’ opinions. (It also drew attention that in the league’s press release, this item was first on the list of criteria.)

Another metric on the list is being in the “top 11 minutes played for the USWNT” over the last two years for field players, or No. 1 in minutes for goalkeepers. This puts players’ eligibility for a big paycheck in Hayes’ hands, with her starting lineup and substitution choices.

Hayes was asked Thursday what she thinks of having that power.

» READ MORE: An unusual loss shows the USWNT might not have its new No. 1 goalkeeper yet

“Nothing will change with me and the way that I’m doing things, regardless of any ruling that’s put in place,” she said. “To be honest with you, it’s probably going to be a little bit longer until they resolve what that criteria is — whether it ends up being that or something else, you’d have to ask them. But from my perspective, nothing changes with regards to how I will operate.”

Hayes also said she “didn’t know” the rule was coming before it was announced, and that she found out about it from the national team’s longtime PR chief, Aaron Heifetz.

The NWSL Players Association has continued to oppose the rule, and said Wednesday that it is preparing to take the league to arbitration. The league claimed it has the right to impose the rule without collective bargaining and said it consulted the union on the rule. The union disagrees on both counts.

“A league that truly believes in the value of its players would not be afraid to bargain over it,” the NWSLPA said in a statement when the rule was announced.

» READ MORE: Alex Morgan looks back at her history in Chester — and forward to the USWNT’s bright future

It would prefer that the league just raise the cap by $1 million for this year. ESPN reported that the league’s base salary cap for this year is $3.5 million “before additions for revenue sharing.”

How many of the league’s 16 teams would favor that isn’t known, nor is it known what the vote of clubs would have to be to make that happen.

What is known is that Rodman will report to national team camp without a club affiliation, and it isn’t clear where she’ll end up. Many European clubs reportedly have expressed interest, although the list with the roster room and the quality Rodman deserves is pretty short.

The other big absence from this squad is midfielder Sam Coffey. The reason for that was revealed a few hours after the roster was announced: The Guardian reported that she is in “advanced talks” to join England’s Manchester City, and that the deal is “close to completion.”

Manchester City leads the Women’s Super League standings and is seeking its first title since 2016 after many runner-up finishes. Second-place Chelsea has Catarina Macario, Naomi Girma, and Alyssa Thompson, and third-place Arsenal has Emily Fox.

» READ MORE: Sam Coffey has known for some time that European clubs are watching her

Goalkeepers (3): Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals), Jordan Silkowitz (Bay FC)

Defenders (8): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current), Tara Rudd* (Washington Spirit), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Gisele Thompson (Angel City), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave), Kate Wiesner (Washington Spirit)

Midfielders (8): Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage), Lo’eau LaBonta (Kansas City Current), Sally Menti (Seattle Reign), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)

Forwards (7): Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign), Jameese Joseph (Chicago Stars), Trinity Rodman (unattached), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current), Reilyn Turner (Portland Thorns)

* — The former Tara McKeown got married a few weeks ago.

Jan. 24: Vs. Paraguay in Carson, Calif., 5:30 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Jan. 27: Vs. Chile in Santa Barbara, Calif., 10 p.m. (TBS, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

March 1: Vs. Argentina in Nashville, 5 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

March 4: Vs. Canada in Columbus, Ohio, 6:45 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

March 7: Vs. Colombia in Harrison, N.J., 12:30 p.m. (TBS, truTV, Telemundo 62, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)