Mary Victoria Penso (; born 1985/1986) is an American soccer

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

. In 2020, she became the first woman to referee a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

regular season match in 20 years.

Career

Penso was raised in Stuart, Florida, and began refereeing in high school alongside her older brothers. She was invited to an Olympic Development Program refereeing camp in Alabama at the age of 18. Penso graduated from Florida State University in 2008 with a

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development dur ...

degree. She worked in marketing for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...

and

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until relocating to Ohio to earn a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

in 2015 from the

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Res ...

. Penso joined 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 ...

as a referee in 2013 and was assigned to women's collegiate tournaments and later the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...

(NWSL). Following the 2019 Generation Adidas Cup, she was invited to join the

Professional Referee Organization Professional Referee Organization (PRO) is the organization responsible for managing the referee and assistant referee program in professional soccer leagues in the United States and Canada, working alongside the United States Soccer Federat ...

's PRO2 development program. Penso later served as an assistant or fourth official at several

(MLS) and

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

matches, in addition to assignments in the NWSL. In January 2020, Penso was appointed as the managing director of the

National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association The National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (NISOA) is the organization responsible for improving the quality of officiating at college soccer matches in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonl ...

. On September 25, 2020, she became the ninth woman to referee a MLS match and the first since

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in May 2000.

Personal life

Penso is married to Chris Penso, a long-time MLS referee. They have three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Penso, Tori 1980s births Living people American soccer referees Major League Soccer referees Date of birth missing (living people) People from Stuart, Florida Case Western Reserve University alumni American women referees and umpires