Tori Penso, Soccer Referee

Tori Penso led her team to officiate the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final in Australia and New Zealand; the first from the U.S. to referee a FIFA World Cup final and the first Women’s World Cup final referee from the Americas, man or woman. She has served US Soccer as a Referee for 23 years, starting at the young age of 14 years old. She currently serves on the FIFA Panel and has since 2021. In this role, Tori is a trailblazer for women officials, in the US, Concacaf and globally.

As the first female referee to officiate an MLS match in two decades following legends like Kari Seitz, Sandy Hunt and Nancy Lay to becoming the first woman to referee a Men’s World Cup Qualifier in Concacaf, she continues to set a new standard for officials within our region and globally. Tori has worked her way through the professional ranks in the US, having been selected to join PRO2, serving in the NPSL, USL, NWSL, and MLS leagues. She is currently the only female full-time Professional Referee with PRO (Professional Referee Organization) and you can catch her on the pitch working MLS matches regularly. Most recently, Tori has returned home from Saudi Arabia as the first female to work a professional match when she was selected for the Opening Match of the 2023 Men’s FIFA Club World Cup this past December.

Tori Penso is excited about the opportunities ahead as the game continues to demand more officials at all levels of the game – there is so much opportunity in officiating!

Nathan Whitaker

From https://nathanwhitaker.com/about/

I now spend my days writing and speaking. Not at the same time.

It’s been a circuitous path to here. After winning a Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and witnessing teamwork and leadership from my time in the scouting departments of the Bucs and Jacksonville Jaguars, I talked Tony Dungy into writing a book. (I may have been unemployed for three years while I wore him down.)

That book, my first, was the #1 New York Times bestseller, Quiet Strength, and I have gone on to write numerous other books (eight of which have become NYT bestsellers, by my count – which may be skewed, since math wasn’t my thing), including The Mentor Leader, Uncommon, Uncommon Marriage, Through My Eyes (with Tim Tebow), Snap Decision, The One Year Impact For Living Men’s Devotional, Role of a Lifetime (with James Brown), and The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge.

When I speak to corporations, teams, churches or non-profits, I draw on lessons learned from coaching friends Tony Dungy, Mike Tomlin, Billy Donovan, Clint Hurdle and Tom Coughlin, as well as my college coach, Steve Spurrier.