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Whistling While She Works

Alumna Tori Penso is the first U.S. ref in history to officiate a World Cup soccer final match

Photo: DEFODI IMAGES/GETTY IMAGESTori Penso, the first USA official to referee a World Cup final, shows a yellow card during the FIFA Women's World Cup final match between Spain and England on August 20, 2023, in Sydney, Australia.

Tori Penso remembers sprinting down the soccer field, a rising home crowd acting like a tailwind as Australia's Sam Kerr pushed the ball toward the England goal in the 2023 Women's World Cup semi-finals in Sydney.

Slowing her run, she watched Kerr's perfect shot find the top corner of the goal as the crowd went bonkers.

"It was an electric moment for the host country, and I had the best seat in the house," said Penso (MGT '15).

Just four days later, Penso had her own electric moment. In a historic appointment, FIFA, soccer's international governing body, picked the 37-year-old to lead an all-women referee crew in the women's World Cup Final, with the head of referees calling her "the best possible choice."

"I melted," Penso said.

A U.S. ref had never worked a men's or women's World Cup Final. This was also the first time in nearly a century the same referee officiated in both the semis and final.

The World Cup culminated a soccer journey that began when Penso followed her brothers into the sport. She started refereeing at age 14 when her mother suggested officiating at local games to earn cash. At times, she considered quitting—like when angry parents chased her to her car after a match near her home in Stuart, Florida.

"I mean, "Who wants to work a job where you get chased out?" Penso said.

But after a call to her mentor, she returned the next day and blew her whistle. She really hasn't stopped since.

Soccer was Penso's passion as an undergraduate at Florida State University, where she played at the club level. It's also how she met her husband, professional referee Chris Penso.

Penso continued officiating professional and other matches even as she specialized in digital marketing. She loved the corporate work, but felt she lacked "a lot of business savviness and expertise ... I realized if I wanted to continue to accelerate my career, I probably needed to take a step sideways or forward and build some of those skills."

So, she made the first of two bold decisions, leaving a job in California and moving to Northeast Ohio to earn her MBA.

Penso learned invaluable lessons at Case Western Reserve's Weatherhead School of Management, particularly in classes about coaching with compassion and managing organizational change, which, she said, "set me up to manage barrier-breaking."

Professor Ellen Van Oosten, PhD (MGT '94; GRS '13, organizational behavior), said Penso epitomized concepts students studied in her MBA leadership course.

"I remember Tori as being a role model for emotional intelligence and a kind of leadership style that builds trust and respect," Van Oosten said. "She easily connected with other students, was a vibrant source of positive leadership, exuded hope and humor on a continual basis and uplifted those of us lucky enough to be in her presence."

Penso's team-building skills have served her well as a referee. "Her ability to get players to instantly take down their walls, defense mechanisms—whatever you want to label it—is second to none," Chris Penso said.

Penso's second bold professional decision came in 2019, after watching televised coverage of the Women's World Cup in France. Disappointed the United States didn't have a referee on the field, Penso—then reffing women's professional games part-time while working again in digital marketing—thought, "Why not?"

"I said, 'You know, if anyone is uniquely in position to make a run for [refereeing in] 2023, it's me,'" she said. "There really weren't any professional women [working full time in the field] ... It was certainly a leap."

Penso gave herself a two-year deadline to make refereeing a full-time career. But within a year, she became the first full-time woman referee in Major League Soccer (MLS) and the first woman in two decades to referee in that league.

The World Cup goal that once seemed out of reach now felt like a logical step. She landed the semi-finals match last August—and performed so well that FIFA's head of referees announced Penso would ref the women's World Cup Final, where Spain went on to defeat England, 1-0.

The game now feels like a "bit of a blur," Penso said.

"It was a fast tempo, both teams playing to be crowned the world champions," she said. "It was an honor to have the best seat in the house on the biggest stage in our game."

Chris Penso and their three daughters joined her on the field post-game, the girls making snow angels in the fallen confetti.

"They get to see how hard Tori works, that dreams are meant to be chased," he said.

They've also learned the value of education. Penso not only stepped away from corporate work to earn her MBA, but returned to the classroom as an adjunct professor, teaching the course, "Social Media in Sports Marketing" at the University of South Florida.

"I just had so many amazing profs that changed my trajectory and perspective on life, I wanted to do that for students as well," Penso said. "Open their minds to thinking differently."

— BUD SHAW