Alyssa Nichols (born January 15, 1996) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

referee.

Early life

Nichols was born on January 15, 1996, in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

, to Pearl and Andrew Pennington. She attended

Murrah High School Murrah High School is a public high school located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It is a part of the Jackson Public School District. History Prior to desegregation in the 1960s, the school was majority white. Donna Ladd, in an article i ...

in Jackson, where she was a member of the school soccer team. Nichols went on to earn her undergraduate degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

, joining the

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...

sorority and graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

Career

Nichols started refereeing at the age of 17. She became the first woman from Mississippi to receive a national referee license from the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

when she was 23 years old. In January 2023, Nichols became the youngest Black woman, as well as the first woman from Mississippi, to earn a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

referee badge.

Personal life

Nichols has lived in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, United States. Her husband, Philip Nichols, was a

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Alyssa Living people 1996 births American soccer referees Women's association football referees Jackson State University alumni Sportspeople from Jackson, Mississippi