Former University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Rainbow Wahine basketball player Maj Forsberg continues to make her mark on the hardwood—this time with a whistle in hand. Forsberg officiated her seventh NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four this year, capping it off by working the national championship game on April 6, between UConn and South Carolina in Tampa, Florida.
“It’s always really unique to work the final game of the season,” Forsberg said. “There’s just a different energy to it. Everyone is anticipating that moment of crowning a champion after a long five-month season.”
A 1996–2000 UH Mānoa alumna, Forsberg was a guard under legendary coach Vince Goo. The Horsholm, Denmark native remains the only Rainbow Wahine player from Denmark in program history. Her time on the team was among the most successful stretches in program history, going 82-31 in four years. The highlight was the 1997–98 season when the team went 24-4, finished first in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament as an eighth seed—a program high that still stands today.
Goo remembered how Forsberg’s intense focus during games hinted at her future path in basketball officiating.
“She was always attentive during the game and every time I looked down the bench, she was always staring at me like she was trying to listen to what I was telling the referees. She would frown when I frowned and she would laugh when I laughed,” Goo recalled. “I knew that she was looking to go somewhere after college ball and that was to be a referee.”
In the classroom, she was equally impressive, earning All-WAC academic honors for three seasons. She tripled-majored in finance, international business and management information systems, with a minor in speech. Forsberg is also fluent in Japanese, a skill tied to her heritage—her mother is Japanese.
“I always tell student-athletes, don’t take your education for granted,” Forsberg said. “Challenge yourself. I took as many credits as I could, and that opened up so many doors.”
Pivot to the other side of the whistle
After graduation, she entered the finance industry and rose to vice president of risk information services for a software company with roots in Japan and headquartered in Hawaiʻi, before pivoting full-time into officiating. Her résumé now includes two Olympics (Paris and Tokyo), and 11 straight WNBA finals and several NCAA national championship games as crew chief. Forsberg is currently the only female crew chief working the WNBA finals.
“Professional basketball is completely different from the college game,” she said. “In college, the coaches run the show. In the pros, it’s all about the players—and the pace, intensity and skill level reflect that.”
Goo pointed to Forsberg’s deep understanding of the game and steady demeanor as key reasons behind her success as an official.
“She really relishes basketball. She knows the game. And the thing is she knows how to relate with coaches. I can see a coach hollering and yelling, and she never changes her facial expression. She stays emotionally intact,” Goo said.
Reflecting on her career, Forsberg said she’s starting to think about what comes next.
“I’ve probably been on the road over 300 days a year for the last decade. I’m ready to slow down a bit, maybe even retire. I would love to come back to Hawaiʻi—that’s always felt like my home,” she said.
Forsberg credits her former coaches, including Goo, as well as the late UH Hilo basketball coach Jimmy Yagi and his wife Jeanne, for bringing her to Hawaiʻi and said she remains close with former teammates and coaches.
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them,” she said. “I’m forever grateful.”
