“The matches are just so quick,’’ Tahni Walters explained.

“I have to really concentrate to make sure I don’t miss anything.’’

Tahni, 17, gets to put this into practice this week when she controls games at the Australian Indoor Hockey Championships at Goulburn. She was selected after umpiring at the State under 15 titles last year.

Tahni will be controlling the under 15 games

“I umpire the boys and girls games at State,’’ she said.

“But I think I’ll only be doing the girls games at the nationals.’’

Tahni refereed under 13 fixtures at the Australian titles last year and has been promoted to the 15s this time around – her performances at the State impressing the selection panel.

“It’s going to be great, I’m really excited,’’ she said before heading to Goulburn.

Tahni has represented Manning at State level at indoor and it was through here she started umpiring. While she enjoys being on the court playing, Tahni said she prefers calling the shots as an umpire. As was the case at State, she won’t be that much older than the players she is umpiring, but added this hasn’t presented problems in the past and she doesn’t think it will be an issue at Goulburn.

“The players are usually pretty good,’’ she said.

Tahni is looking forward to a busy season playing outdoor this year. In 2017 she captained Taree High to victory in the NSW Combined High Schools Championship. The team’s roster hasn’t changed that much for the title defence this year and Tahni believes they’re well placed to go deep into the competition. She also plays for Newcastle Premier League premiers Tigers and when commitments in Newcastle allow, with Sharks in the Manning Valley competition.

She will be one of the younger whistle blowers in Goulburn this week and as such isn’t expecting to control one of the finals.

“I don’t think I’ll get a (finals) game, but I’ll just wait and see,’’ she said.