Amy Rodriguez doesn’t don a cape or mask, but there is a superhero quality to her that is reminiscent of the action stars that don her children’s t-shirts. At home, she is a loving mother that lives for the little moments – tucking her two young boys into bed, reading stories and playing in the yard.
However, when she leaves the Utah Royals FC locker room adorned in the gold kit with the lion crest, A-Rod takes over and the fiercely competitive striker with a fearsome intensity emerges.
“Every time you go out to practice, you have to put aside the ‘Mom’ title and be Amy Rodriguez on the field,” she said. “I think I do a good job of compartmentalizing those.”
Like any great superhero, her stardom has been met with some life-changing hurdles along the way. However, with her return to the field after nearly two years away and scoring in her first start for Utah Royals FC, her redemption story is in the process of being told. And while getting the boots back on and finding the net were key milestones in her reclamation, the story is still long from its climax.
In 2015, Rodriguez was on top of the world. Having already entered the realm of parenthood with the birth of her first son, Ryan born in 2013, she was back in the mix with the U.S. Women’s National Team and riding high at the club level, having scored both goals to win the 2014 NWSL championship for FC Kansas City. That just set the table for arguably her biggest year in soccer, winning the World Cup in the summer before scoring the winning goal to earn NWSL Championship Game MVP honors to win a second consecutive league title.
Striking the balance between her professional life and her family life, she would miss the 2016 season while pregnant with her second son, Luke. Everything looked on track for her to repeat her successful return when she opened the 2017 season in the starting lineup for Kansas City in her third season on the field in the NWSL.
That’s when her plans were sent off the tracks when a torn ACL just minutes into the season opener.
The next year would be incredibly challenging as she sought a return to the field – and a return to normalcy.
She spent that year in California with her husband and two young boys, spending long hours in the gym on the grueling trail towards rehabilitation of a difficult injury to recover from, then returning home and playing the role of wife and mother.
It was a bittersweet time away from the game. While she was away from one element of her life that had grown to define her persona, she was able to see Luke’s first steps and regularly tuck her children in at night.
“It was the little moments like waking my kids up or being able to take my son to school. Watching Luke take his first steps,” Rodriguez said. “All those little moments that a lot of people take for granted. Not every parent gets to be there for those, so I was really happy.”
There was still an itch to return to the field, though. And when she had the opportunity to join Utah Royals FC – inching closer to her California home – she was eager to work her way back onto the field.
With 19,203 in attendance at Rio Tinto Stadium in Utah’s home opener on April 14, Rodriguez made her triumphant return to the pitch to the raucous cheer of the home crowd. Two weeks later in her first start, she scored her first goal since the 2015 NWSL Championship match. Those two moments were confirmation enough for her – A-Rod was back.
“I think that it had been so long since I last played … it’s hard to sit on the sidelines and watch my friends play and watch my teammates score goals. You have that fear of missing out a little bit. So I definitely felt in that moment when I scored my first goal for Utah Royals a great relief,” she said. “I’m just happy that I’ve come so far in a year and a half since my injury that I can get back on the field and lace my cleats up again.”
While the personal victories of returning to the field and scoring her first goal have been rewarding in her quest, Rodriguez still has plenty of foes to battle while her story is written.
She remains driven by the vision of getting back into the National Team and winning more championships to add to her trophy case, which already includes an NCAA championship, two NWSL titles, two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup.
“Your ultimate goal in sports is to win a championship. I feel very fortunate and very proud that I was able to collect all those accolades. Once you get a little taste of winning, you don’t ever want to go the other direction. You only want it more and more,” she said. “That’s where I’m at in my career. I would love to win another NWSL championship this year. I’d love to win more gold medals for our national team. I don’t want to quit yet.”
While her aspirations with Utah Royals FC are lofty, she also envisions getting back into the national team. After a two-year hiatus, she has a continued uphill climb to earn a spot. At 31 years old she will be competing with an ever-expanding pool of players that are striving to play for the U.S. in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
While daunting, it’s just another challenge that A-Rod will meet with the intensity that she uses as she approaches every match.
“It would be a dream come true to play in France next year,” she said. “It’s such a competitive spot to earn, it would feel amazing to put the jersey back on and to be able to represent the United States of America.”
Although the superhero has returned to action, Rodriguez still strikes the balance off the field. When the final whistle sounds on each match, she sheds the cape of “A-Rod,” corrals Ryan and Luke and is back to being “Mom.”
With her husband Adam in her corner, she feels no qualms about separating the two. And while it has been challenging as her children have split time between the family’s home in California and their mother’s work home in Utah, Rodriguez has thrived under the difficult personal circumstances throughout her career.
“I’ve been so fortunate in my career, my life and my marriage that things have fallen into place. Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband and a wonderful family that have been so supportive,” she said. “They’ve really enabled me to continue playing soccer and continue following my dreams. And I’ve been able to become a wife and a mom at the same time. I feel like I’m very lucky.”
