Tori Huster, the last original Washington Spirit player to have played for the club’s entire existence, is hanging up her cleats after an 11-year career.
In an Instagram post, the long-serving captain said that it was “kismet” to be closing 2023 by announcing her retirement. Entering last season, the 34-year-old was one of five players still with her original National Women’s Soccer League club since its inception.
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The Cincinnati, Ohio, native was the seventh overall pick by Washington during the 2013 Supplemental Draft before the NWSL’s inaugural season. Prior to playing in D.C., she was a four-year starter at Florida State, winning the 2011 College Cup, and spent time with Western New York Flash of the defunct Women’s Professional Soccer league and the Newcastle Jets in the Australian W-League.
Once she came to D.C., for the next 11 seasons — alternating as a defender and midfielder — Huster become Washington’s long-serving player, making 159 appearances, starting in 146 matches and playing over 13,000 minutes.
“‘Thank you’ will never be enough to acknowledge everything that Tori Huster has done for the Spirit, the NWSL and women’s soccer,” the club said in a statement posted on its X account. “OG23 will forever be a star in our story.”
Her longevity and experience with the club became crucial in 2021 as the Spirit was married in scandals involving the behaviors of its head coach and ownership. Fighting through all controversies and advisories, Huster captained the Spirit to a six-game unbeaten streak into the playoffs, which culminated in winning its first NWSL championship.
However, Huster was unable to join her teammates during the championship run as she suffered a torn Achilles during the Spirit’s quarterfinal match against North Carolina. She missed the entire 2022 season to recovery from the injury.
She re-signed with Washington on a one-year deal, with club officials hopeful that her return was imminent. Days after being removed from the season-ending injury list, Huster played her first match in over 20 months on July 28, playing 14 minutes in a Challenge Cup match against NJ/NY Gotham FC.
“It is properly one of the proudest moments in my career,” she said in July while holding back tears. “Super proud of the journey that has been really difficult and really special in some moments as well.”
She played two more matches in August and was set to enter free agency after the 2023 season. Despite her limited appearances, Huster’s presence with her teammates players remained impactful, with 16-year-old midfielder Chloe Ricketts calling her “the smartest player I ever played with.”
“Obviously, I am a young player and sometimes [with] tactics, I can get a little confused,” Ricketts said in July. “But when she’s on my team, I’m like ‘Ok, I got this’ and I am 10 times more confidant when she is behind me.”
In 2020, Huster was elected as president of the NWSL Players Association, the union that represents the league’s players. She was re-elected in 2022 following the signing of the first-ever collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players, which brought up players salaries, established guaranteed contracts and created free agency.
“Few retiring players have left the game so fundamentally changed for having been in it with such little fanfare,” the association said in post on X. “That’s how Tori would like it to be, because that’s who she is.”
