Who is Rodrigo Rodriguez Gil, and why do people still search for his name years after his marriage ended? He is a retired Brazilian volleyball player known for his long career as an outside hitter in Brazil and Italy. He is also known as the first husband of Australian basketball star Penny Taylor.
Their marriage lasted only three years, but Rodrigo’s own story goes far beyond that one chapter. He built a real career on the volleyball court long before Penny Taylor came into his life. He played for clubs across Brazil and Italy, learned to live in a new country, and later found a second calling as a coach in the United States.
Profile Overview
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Rodrigo Rodriguez Gil (also written Rodrigo Rodrigues Gil) |
| Date of Birth | July 20, 1978 |
| Place of Birth | Uberlândia, Brazil |
| Height | 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm) |
| Weight | 97 kg (214 lbs) |
| Position | Outside Hitter |
| Spike Reach | 345 cm |
| Block Reach | 325 cm |
| Professional Debut | 1999, São Paulo FC/Motorola |
| Career Length | Around 18 years as a player |
| Countries Played In | Brazil, Italy |
| Ex-Spouse | Penny Taylor (married 2005, divorced 2008) |
| Children | None from this marriage |
| Current Role | Volleyball coach in Southern California |
Who Is Rodrigo Rodriguez Gil?
Rodrigo Rodriguez Gil is a retired Brazilian volleyball player, best known for playing nine straight seasons in Italy’s top league and for his short marriage to WNBA star Penny Taylor. He played as an outside hitter, a role that needs a strong arm on attack and quick feet on defense. Many people first hear his name because of Penny Taylor, but he built his own career long before he ever met her.
He was born on July 20, 1978, in Uberlândia, a city in Brazil where volleyball means a lot to local kids. From an early age, he had the height and the drive to stand out from other players his own age. That early promise took him from small Brazilian clubs all the way to some of Europe’s toughest teams.
Today, Rodrigo lives away from the public eye. He does not give interviews, and he does not share his personal life online. Instead, he has spent more than ten years helping young athletes get better, far from the attention his marriage once brought him.
A Bold Move at Fourteen
Rodrigo’s path in volleyball started early, and it began with a hard choice. At just 14 years old, he left home to chase the sport at a higher level. That is a big step for any boy that young, and it took real courage to walk away from the comfort of home.
His choice paid off fast. By age 15, he was already training with Brazil’s youth national team. Coaches noticed his height, his reach, and his feel for the game right away.
Over the next few years, Rodrigo won the title of Junior World Champion three times. Very few teenage players in the world reach that level. It placed him among the top young talents in the sport at that time.
By age 18, he had grown into a true international player. He earned a spot on a World All-Star Team, and that honor opened the door to a professional career that would take him across two continents.
Starting Out With São Paulo FC
Rodrigo turned pro in 1999 with the Brazilian club São Paulo FC/Motorola. In that first season, he helped the team finish third in the Paulista Championship and eighth in the Superliga Brasileira, which is Brazil’s top league.
Playing for a club tied to a big city like São Paulo gave Rodrigo real exposure. Scouts across Europe began to notice his height, his spike, and the way he stayed calm under pressure. This attention would soon change the whole direction of his career.
Even in his first pro season, Rodrigo showed the traits that would define him for years to come. He was steady, not flashy. He built his game on doing the small things well, and that habit carried him straight into a new life overseas.
Nine Seasons in Italy’s Top League
In 2000, Rodrigo made the move that shaped the rest of his career. He signed with Pony Express Kappa Torino in Italy, joining one of the toughest volleyball leagues in the world. Over the next several years, he moved through multiple clubs and cities as his skills kept improving.
His path through Italian volleyball included stops with:
- Pony Express Kappa Torino (2000-01)
- Yahoo! Italia Volley Ferrara (2001-02)
- Conad Forlì (2002-03)
- Samia Schio Sport (2003-04)
- Südtirol Alto Adige Bolzano (2004-05)
- Giotto Padova (2005-06)
- Edilesse Cavriago (2006-07)
Each club tested Rodrigo in a new way. He played in the top-tier Italian Serie A1 with both Ferrara and Padova, and he helped Padova reach the fourth round of the 2005-06 CEV Cup, a strong result in European club play. Coaches and teammates came to trust him for his discipline and his readiness to play whatever role a team needed.
It should be said clearly that Rodrigo built his career in indoor volleyball, playing in Italy’s Serie A system rather than on the sand. This point matters, since a few websites have mixed up the two sports when writing about his career.
Meeting Penny Taylor in Schio
It was in the small Italian city of Schio that Rodrigo’s life crossed paths with a rising star from a different sport. Penny Taylor, an Australian basketball player, was playing for a local team there while Rodrigo played for a nearby volleyball club. The two first met in March 2004.
Their early talks were not simple. Rodrigo did not speak English, and Penny did not speak Portuguese. Both had picked up Italian while living abroad, and that shared language became the bridge that first connected them.
Over time, their bond grew stronger. Both were pro athletes living far from home, facing the same pressures of travel and competition. That shared life gave them common ground, and it slowly turned into something more serious.
A Wedding That Joined Two Continents
Rodrigo Rodriguez Gil and Penny Taylor married on December 29, 2005, in Schio, Italy, the same city where they first met. The ceremony took place inside a theater that was 400 years old, and the reception followed at a villa built in 1540.
Family and friends traveled a long way for the day. Rodrigo’s parents flew in from Brazil, and Penny’s parents made the trip from Australia. Penny’s sister Heather stood beside her as a bridesmaid, and Rodrigo’s brother Marcello, along with his friend Giba, stood as groomsmen.
Because both of them had busy sports schedules, the couple did not take a honeymoon right away. About a year after the wedding, they finally traveled together to Australia for a proper trip, a rare quiet moment for two athletes whose lives moved fast.
A Quiet End to the Marriage
Rodrigo and Penny built a life together while both kept their pro careers going. Constant travel between Italy, the United States, and Australia became normal for them. The couple did not have children during their marriage.
After three years together, they separated in 2008. Neither one gave a public reason for the split, and no confirmed details have ever come out. What stands out most is how calm the separation stayed. There were no public fights and no interviews about what went wrong.
Rodrigo never spoke to the press about the divorce, and he never commented on Penny’s life after it. That silence matches the same quiet nature he has shown for his whole life away from the spotlight.
Penny Taylor’s Life After Their Marriage
Penny Taylor went on to build one of the most respected careers in women’s basketball. She played 13 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, winning three WNBA titles in 2007, 2009, and 2014. She also won two Olympic silver medals with the Australian Opals and was named MVP of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.
In 2017, Penny married her former Mercury teammate Diana Taurasi, another WNBA star. The two had known each other for years as teammates and rivals before their bond became public. Penny once said meeting Taurasi felt like being welcomed straight into her family, and that Taurasi’s warmth and energy surprised her right away.
Penny and Diana welcomed a son, Leo Michael, in March 2018, and a daughter, Isla, in October 2021. She later worked as the Mercury’s director of player development and then as an assistant coach, before stepping back in 2020 to focus on raising her kids full time.
From Player to Coach
After he stopped playing pro volleyball, Rodrigo did not walk away from the sport he had spent his whole life learning. In 2010, he moved into coaching, joining the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club to work with girls’ teams and Team Rockstar to coach boys.
His years at the highest level gave him a deep grasp of the game that few coaches can match. Parents and young players in Southern California quickly came to value his calm way of teaching and his patience with kids still learning the basics.
Over more than ten years of coaching, Rodrigo helped his teams qualify for the Junior Olympics every single year. He was named Coach of the Year twice, and his teams brought home a gold medal, a silver medal, two bronze medals, and three fifth-place finishes at that event. He also kept his teams near the top of SCVA Division 1, one of the toughest regional groups in the sport.
Life Today
Rodrigo Rodriguez Gil still lives a private life built around coaching and helping young players grow. He stays off social media and rarely talks to the press about his own life. Because of this, much of his day-to-day world stays out of public view, even though people keep searching for his story online.
There is no confirmed public word on whether he has remarried or started a new family since his divorce from Penny Taylor. Any claim that says otherwise is only a guess, not a proven fact, and readers should treat it that way.
What is certain is that Rodrigo has built a second career worth being proud of. His work with young athletes has led to real results, from Junior Olympic medals to Coach of the Year honors. His mark on the sport did not end when he stopped playing. It simply changed shape.
Final Thoughts
The story of Rodrigo Rodriguez Gil was never built on fame. It began with a bold choice at 14 years old and grew through nine hard seasons in one of the toughest volleyball leagues on earth. His marriage to Penny Taylor brought him attention he never seemed to want, and even that chapter ended with the same quiet grace that has marked his whole life.
Today, his legacy lives on in a different place. It lives in the young players he has coached, the medals his teams have earned, and the steady example he has set for kids who may never know the full story behind their coach. Sometimes, the most meaningful careers are the ones built quietly, one season and one player at a time.
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