Up and coming Brighton & Hove umpire Jess Harris is looking forward to her first appointment for a women's national league fixture on Saturday when she officiates at Old Georgians v Sevenoaks in Conference East.

Jess (pictured in action above) passed her assessment for her Level 2 qualification in April while umpiring at the England Hockey junior club championships in Nottingham and this is the next step on her progression.

A qualified A & E nurse at the Royal Sussex County Hospital Jess is keeping goal for the BHHC women's 2s this season but is currently filling in for Amanda Billington in the 1s while she is away with the England team at the Masters World Cup in New Zealand. So she has a busy Saturday afternoon ahead, playing against Bromley & Beckenham at noon at Blatchington and then dashing off to St George's College, Weybridge, to umpire at 4pm, where she will be watched.

Jess is already thinking about whether to give up playing in order to concentrate on her umpiring. "I'd like to do a couple more seasons at level two and see where it takes me," she says. "This is a one-off and then we'll see if I get on the list. It's a lot faster play than I'm used to and I'll have to let play go on and play advantage more rather than keep blowing the whistle."

This is Jess' seventh season playing for Brighton & Hove Hockey Club and she has umpired for ten years. She has officiated the Sussex Under-18 teams, local universities' games and at national junior tournaments.

Jess spoke passionately about umpiring at the club's AGM in April, appealing for more playing members to become qualified umpires as there is a constant shortage. She has received quite a few enquiries about how to get started and is encouraging people to undergo the unassessed online Level 1 umpiring course as a first step.

BHHC is rightly proud of Jess' umpiring achievements and all members pass on their congratulations and best wishes to her as she takes on her latest challenge.