Jess Barnett, a former Canadian National Team player and an All-American at Iowa, joined the Yale field hockey staff in the fall of 2016 and served as assistant coach through the summer of 2021. In her first season, she helped the Bulldogs more than double their win total from the previous season, and the team won more league games than it had in the two prior seasons combined. In her second and third seasons, the Bulldogs improved their overall win total again each year. The 2019 team ended the season on a roll, winning five of its final six games.
Outside of Yale Field Hockey, Barnett has assisted with the U19 USA Field Hockey Team, selected multiple times as Level 1 Futures evaluator, and was appointed as the Regional Selection Coordinator for the NE Region.
Barnett brings extensive playing experience to the Yale sideline. Her international experience includes playing for both the Canadian Senior National Team and the Canadian Junior National Team. She played for the Senior National Team from 2012-14 and won bronze at the Pan American Cup in Argentina in September 2013. In 2014, she attended the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. She has earned 41 International caps playing for Canada.
At Iowa, Barnett was part of a 2011-12 stretch in which the Hawkeyes went 29-12 and made a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. Barnett was a third team All-American as a junior and second team All-American as a senior. She was also a three-time All-West Region, All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Tournament selection. She earned the Hawkeyes’ MVP award three times, and started all 77 games she played for her career. Barnett capped her Iowa career with the school’s 2013 Female Athlete of the Year award, the second time she won that award.
A midfielder/back, Barnett tied for Iowa’s team lead in points with 24 (10-4-24) as a senior, and was second on the team in points (11-2-24) as a junior. As a sophomore she led the team in goals and points (7-0-14).
Barnett spent the 2015 season as a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater. Prior to that she was lead coach of the West Vancouver Field Hockey Club for a season, and also worked as a strength and conditioning coach at Game Ready Fitness in her home town of North Vancouver, B.C. She spent 2013-15 as a coach with the West Vancouver Adanacs, working with athletes ages 12-16.
Barnett graduated from Handsworth Secondary School, where she played basketball, field hockey and soccer and was awarded SportBCs’ Female Athlete of the Year in 2009. She has a B.A. in communication studies from Iowa (2013), with a minor in sports studies.
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