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Winning is a word that has become synonymous with Amy Rodriguez, known as “A-Rod” to her teammates. During her career Amy has continually raised the bar by accomplishing even greater feats than the year before. Her explosive and dangerous scoring ability as well as an astute knack for setting up her teammates has made Amy the brightest young star on the already talent filled U.S. Women’s National Team. 2008 was a big year for Rodriguez, she was asked to step in and fill the shoes of the team's leading goal scorer, Abby Wambach, whose season ended when she suffered a broken leg in the team’s final preparation match before the Olympic Games. Amy relished in the opportunity and rose to the occasion. Her fiery and aggressive playing style served as the catalyst and set the pace for Team U.S.A. to win Olympic gold. Amy’s big play ability was showcased on the world’s biggest stage during the gold medal match versus Brazil when she heroically provided the assist for the game-winning goal. Amy is currently finishing up her degree in Psychology at the University of Southern California. As a junior in 2007, she led her team to it’s first-ever NCAA Championship, scoring twice in a semifinal upset of cross-town rivals UCLA. That year she was the offensive MVP of the Final Four, her team’s leading scorer and was named to the All-NCAA tournament team. She also led her team in scoring in her freshman year and was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Rodriguez earned her first two caps with the WNT in the 2005 Algarve Cup, where she was the only high school player on the US roster. Before becoming a regular on Team USA, Amy had extremely successful runs on the youth national teams, including scoring two goals and providing two assists at the FIFA U-19 World Championships, where her team took home the bronze medal. She also scored 4 goals in the U-20 CONCACAF tournament in 2006 to help the US qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championships. Rodriguez attended Santa Margarita High School and was named the Gatorade and Parade Girl’s High School Player of the Year in 2004. She served as her team captain as a senior and was named an NSCAA and Parade All-American in 2003 and 2004. She was a member of the honor roll and Model United Nations at SMHS and was named female athlete of the year as a senior. Amy played club soccer for West Coast SC and for the Laguna Hills Eclipse. She won the state, regional and national titles with the Eclipse as a U-15 and U-18 team member. Rodriguez’s father, John, is of Cuban descent, and Amy has said that her Latina fire shows itself most on the soccer field. Her mother’s name is Lori, and she has two younger siblings, Adam and Lauren. On January 16, 2009, Amy was selected by the Boston Breakers as the #1 overall draft pick in the inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer draft. She currently plays for the Philadelphia Independence. Awards and Accomplishments: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005: All-CIF Team honoree |
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