Jack is set for a Spanish contest (From Redditch Advertiser)

Jack is set for a Spanish contest

4:00pm Friday 15th March 2013 in Sport

AN up-and-coming referee from Headless Cross is part of a five-strong delegation from Worcestershire FA who have been invited to officiate at a tournament in Spain.

Jack Hennessy, 20, will be testing his skills at the Madrid Sur Cup this summer, a tournament which features junior sides from across Spain.

Officials from Ireland, Denmark and Portugal will also be taking part.

Hennessy, who is a level seven official, started refereeing five years ago and now looks after matches in the BRT Redditch and South Warwickshire League.

He said: “I have always loved football and wanted to be part of it although I am not the best player.

“I had a friend who was making money from a paper round and I wanted to do something which combined my love of football, so I signed up to the Worcestershire FA and went from there.

“My aim is to referee at the highest level possible. Howard Webb is someone I look up to as well as Martin Atkinson and Mark Clattenburg.”

The former St Augustine’s student also captains Birmingham University’s Gaelic Football Team while he studies mechanical engineering.

He helped them defeat Sheffield Hallam at the weekend to win the Aidan Mulryan Memorial Cup.

Hennessy will also take part in the first ever international rules game when Birmingham’s gaelic and Aussie Rules football teams collide in a clash of codes on Friday, March 22.

“My father’s family are from Dublin and I thought it would be nice to connect with that side of my family by taking up Gaelic Football,” added the young referee.

“The game is a mash-up of both sports, with the Aussie Rules injecting a more physical side.”