Jessica Barker

Sports Award

Age:

20

Biography

Ultimate Frisbee is a non-contact team game where points are scored by passing the disc to a teammate in the opposing end zone. Other basic rules are that players must not take steps while holding the disc, and interceptions, incomplete passes, and passes out of bounds are turnovers. Rain, wind, or occasionally other adversities can make for a testing match with rapid turnovers, heightening the pressure of play.

I have been very lucky that my school has a strong background in Ultimate and provides the core of my local team Flux, so I began playing at a young age and soon became very passionate about the sport due to its high intensity, team tactics and the skills required to play at a competitive level. Ultimate is a rising team sport in the UK with lots of regional teams across the country and most universities now having a team.

With Flux I have competed in a National events, but in 2019 I was able to level up and play internationally representing England and coming second in the ISF World Schools Championships in Le Mans France. Later the same year I also represented Great Britain in the U17 Women's category in the Euros competition in Wroclaw Poland. In 2020 I went onto win the Women's U20 National title with Flux, and I was selected to represent Great Britain in the U20 category in Malmo Sweden for the 'Worlds' however all competitions were cancelled due to the pandemic.

As life returned to normal, competitions have restarted and I have the exciting opportunity to be part of the Great Britain U20 Women's squad again, travelling back to Wroclaw Poland in the summer of 2022 to compete at 'Worlds'. This experience will give me the opportunity to continue to play the sport I love against world class players.

Ultimate is a self-funded sport and I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity that the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust has given me, enabling me to fund the travel and accommodation costs for the tournament and ultimately play at an international level.