Geoff Batten hardly has a night free in his diary but he still finds coaching relaxing, while Judy-May Peni paid for a photographer out of her own pocket so she could encourage more women to come and play Rugby League.
The tireless efforts of this pair helped earn them the NSWRL male and female 2024 Community Coach of the Year awards.
“I’m into my second year as coach of the North Coast Bulldogs in Andrew Johns Cup (Under 16 Boys),” Batten (pictured above, on right) told nswrl.com.au.
“I’m into my third year as Under 18s coach for the Nambucca Heads Roosters. I head up Group 2 junior development – boys.
“And I’m into my third year as head coach for the Coffs Harbour RISE program.”
Most people would need to catch their breath but Batten finds the whole exercise of volunteer coaching so very rewarding.
“Just passing on knowledge and watching kids grow and improve, gain confidence and enjoy themselves,” he said.
“You form such great relationships all around the teams you work with.
“I’m probably a bit more laid back after these years of coaching – I’ve learnt to relax and see things as they are and not put too much expectation on things.
“You’ve got to understand the kids have a lot more going on in their lives than just footy. You have to be patient and work with them on things.”
Batten used to play but said he drifted away from the game until his three sons – Will, Toby and Beau – came along.
“They sort of grew up in the Nambucca Heads dressing shed and we lived across the road from the field so it got into their blood. So their love of it got me more involved and things took off from there.”
For May (pictured below), she didn’t start her playing career until age 24 but was able to share the field at the Canley Heights Dragons with some of the NSW greats like Eliana Walton and Simaima Taufa.
May moved into the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership with the Wentworthville Magpies but decided to hang up the boots. And that’s when the coaching bug began to bite.
“I started off as a trainer as Blacktown Bears as I had some teammates, who invited me there to pre-season training just for fitness,” May said.
“I rocked up and some of the girls weren’t into the training program too much so I put my hand up as trainer and taught them a few different things.
“I ended up staying there for the season and then got into a coaching role and I thought, ‘You know what, I really like this’.
She is currently with Wentworthville United and has watched the women’s game grow at a phenomenal rate. But there remained a gap between the women’s metropolitan competitions and the Harvey Norman NSW Premiership.
“I want to close that gap and that started at Wenty getting girls to transition from Open Women’s into Harvey Norman,” she said. “Seeing them achieve that goal is something I love being a part of.”
As a means to that goal, May organised for a professional photographer to come to training and paid for it herself.
“I just wanted to get some content out there and get our players recognised. It worked well because this year we had so many girls wanting to join. I had enough for two Open Women’s teams but the club could only afford to fund one.
“But we still have a pathway there for the younger girls to go from Open women’s to Harvey Norman and then if they aspire to, they can play NRLW or rep footy.”
May is also an assistant coach with the Westpac Tarsha Gale Cup side (Under 17s) at Penrith. The club heard about her feats at Wentworthville.
“Karen Stewart (Panthers women’s program head coach) heard about me somehow and invited me to come on board. I enjoy coaching so much more than running up and down the field.”
Her advice for any women thinking of coaching is simple: “I’d just say ‘Go for it totally’. You don’t want to sit on the fence and wonder ‘what if’.
“Rugby League is one of the greatest sports to be around, mainly because of the community behind it. You make friends for life.”
Batten agrees.
“It’s very rewarding if you’ve got the time, and I appreciate some people haven’t.
“But you have these moments – and not necessarily winning a game – but seeing someone do something, achieve something they didn’t think they would … that’s special.”
