A Stuart native is set to make history on the world stage, officiating in the men's FIFA World Cup.
"Soccer has been part of my life forever. I grew up on the soccer field, both of my brothers played, my father played," soccer referee Tori Penso said.
WATCH BELOW: Stuart native achieves dream of refereeing FIFA World Cup
However, her soccer career was almost done before it even got started.
"My mom would never let me (play soccer)," Penso said. "She said it wasn't for girls. She didn't want me to have bumps and bruises on my legs."
After begging her mom to let her play for years, at age 10, Penso finally laced up her cleats and hit the field running.
"I played all the way through high school, I played club in college," said Penso.
As a teen, Penso was looking for some cash, so as any wise teen would do, she asked her mom what she should do for a job.
"My mom was like, 'Why don't you just work at the soccer fields where you spend so much of your time already?' I was like, 'A referee? Ugh, I don't know about that.' She was like, 'Yeah, you get paid cash, you can hang out at the fields. You can be outside,'" Penso recounted how her referee career got started.
And just like that, Penso was a soccer ref throughout Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.
It helped her get her first car, but it came with some hiccups.
"I had adults chasing me, or I'm getting chased off of a field at the youth club, or I have to park backward at an amateur club just in case something goes wild," Penso said.
She wanted to quit being a referee, but a mentor gave her some advice.
"That guy can chase you off the field, but don't let him run you out of the park. This is the park where you belong," Penso said.
She listened and learned to take the good with the bad, and kept officiating on the side.
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In fact, a few years ago, she was selected to participate in the Olympic Development Program for referees, which changed her life forever.
"That's when I learned that refereeing is more than just a weekend at the local park, but was more of a craft and a discipline," Penso said.
That discipline led her to take a leap of faith, quit her big-time marketing jobs at Coke and Red Bull, and become a Major League Soccer ref.
"A year later, I was in Major League Soccer as the first female referee in over 20 years," said Penso.
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A milestone was checked off the list; however, Penso had one more goal on her checklist: being named to the referee crew for the 2026 Men's FIFA World Cup.
"I didn't tell many people because the reactions I got from them were, 'You're crazy, you? Are you sure?" said Penso.
But she was driven to reach this goal.
Last year, she spent more than 260 days on the road away from her husband and three daughters, working hard to earn her FIFA badge. And after many nights of prayer, she was announced as one of the refs for this year's World Cup.
"When that list came out, I just looked at my husband, and I said, 'This is it. I still can't believe it. I need somebody to pinch me. I’m working to wake up from this dream," Penso said.
The FIFA World Cup begins on June 11 and lasts until July 19, and will be held in 16 cities, including Miami.
