USWNT's Rodman returns to training with Spirit

United States forward Trinity Rodman returned to training with the Washington Spirit on Saturday for the first time in three months.

Rodman, who scored three goals at last year's Olympics to help the USWNT win a gold medal, last played a competitive match on April 12 for the Spirit. She has been hampered by a back injury that she has reaggravated several times since the Olympics, limiting her to just one match for the USWNT in the past 11 months.

Rodman had been out indefinitely since mid-April and had not participated in team activities with the Spirit in months. She has trained individually in recent weeks.

"It's great to have Trinity back with our team," a Spirit spokesperson told ESPN. "Player health and well-being are always our top priorities, and Trinity has put in a tremendous amount of work to return to training. She's an important part of our team, and we're all looking forward to our first match back in front of our fans on August 3."

According to ProSoccerWire, Rodman participated in about half of Saturday's training session and stepped aside for individual work when the Spirit shifted to an 11-v-11 game. The training session was open to the public.

USWNT head coach Emma Hayes told ESPN in early June that Rodman would return to training with the Spirit at some point in July.

"She's in great spirits, and I know we're moving in the right direction with Trin," Hayes said last month. "Both club and country have been working hard to get her to this stage."

The NWSL is in the middle of a monthlong break from the regular season due to international competitions. The Spirit have friendly matches scheduled for later this month before returning to regular season play on Aug. 3.

Rodman left an NWSL game in a wheelchair last September after injuring her back in a game in Kansas City. She managed the injury through the end of the NWSL season, helping the Spirit finish second in the regular season and runners-up in the NWSL Championship.

She continued to struggle with the injury this year. Rodman was left off USWNT rosters for most of the past year to allow her to rest. She was called up for a pair of matches against Brazil in early April and scored 10 minutes into her return to the USWNT. It was her only international appearance since the Olympics to date.

A week later, she left the Spirit's NWSL game at halftime. Shortly after that, she went to London to have her back evaluated by doctors.

Rodman previously said that she doesn't think her back will ever be 100% again.

"It's kind of an issue of it's not one specific thing, it's just the way that my back's structured," she said. "And it's more so management than like a curable fix.

"I don't think my back will ever be the way it was my rookie year, which is unfortunate," she added.

Rodman, 23, is one of the NWSL's and USWNT's biggest stars. She is an impending free agent and became eligible to start negotiating with other teams on July 1. She told ESPN earlier this year that it is "just a matter of when" she decides to play in Europe.

Spirit owner Michele Kang has said several times that the team will "do everything we can" to re-sign Rodman.