After 20 years of coaching boxing at the Singleton PCYC, Brad Maher is taking a step back handing over the gloves to a new coach. He’ll still be involved though, because the impact the PCYC has had on his life is something he could never walk away from.
Brad turned up at the Singleton PCYC when he was 13 years old.
“I came down because I wanted to get fitter for footy but then I discovered I was better at boxing than playing football,” laughed Brad.
He trained at the PCYC through his teenage years, then moved to Mailtand for a while after starting a family and then an opportunity came to move back to Singleton, so Brad and his family moved back to his hometown when he was 28.
In 2000 Brad joined the PCYC as a volunteer and it wasn’t too long before he was asked to join the committee. Two years later the then head boxing coach Col MacDonald decided it was time to pull the pin on coaching and told Brad he would be taking over.
“Col MacDonald has been a huge influence on my life.
“He trained me as a young fella. Col’s wife passed away a year or so ago and we were really concerned about him. He asked me if he could come back to training and now you wouldn’t think he’s the same person – he’s down here every Tuesday and Thursday night and he has his smile and smart-arse comments back.
“Col was still jumping in the ring in his 60s and having a spar with us. He’s so good for this club, he’s done so much and is just a wonderful person.
“Col told me I would be taking over coaching, and I told him ‘No thanks mate it’s not for me’ but he told me I’d be right, and I just had to do it.”
Brad was an operator in the mines at that time. He was on dog watch, so he’d get up at 2pm, head down to the PCYC and teach the school kids from 3:30pm, then seniors at 4:30pm and get ready to go to work.
“The more people we got, the more it grew. We’d go to tournaments here, in Newcastle and Sydney. I was competitive when I started coaching, I wanted to see the guys win.
“But now I get an even bigger kick out of seeing people start who don’t even know how to hold their hands and three to four months later you can see a massive difference. I love watching people grow and the huge boost in confidence they get.
“That’s probably the thing I will miss most about coaching, watching them progress and get better.
“We’ve had hundreds of kids come through who live troubled lives and the discipline they learn here, it changes who they are. They realise that they aren’t as smart and tough as they thought they were, and they turn into bloody good people.
“I can think of three boys in there right now who come from the rougher part of Singleton. They came in and thought they knew everything. Then they jump in the ring and realise they’re not as good as they think they are, but they stay, and they learn, and they grow.”
Brad received Life Membership at Singleton PCYC in 2020.
After 20 years of coaching, he’s handing over the gloves but he’ll stay on as a committee member while continuing to work at United Wambo JV.
“It’s been a wonderful time, I have met some great kids that have grown up to be wonderful mates.”
Brad has worked in mining for over 20 years.
“I started out as a truck driver, just doing transport to and from mines and then I applied for a job at Camberwell Mine and I was there for about a decade as an operator and the last couple of years out there I worked as a shot firer.
“Then I moved over to Ravensworth as a shot firer for nine years and now I’m at United Wambo JV.
“You walk a lot of kilometres through the day, between 10 and 12,000 steps, and then I head to the PCYC and run five kilometres and go in and coach. So, you get pretty tired by the end of the week!
“I still want to pop into the classes, but I feel like it’s time to have more time for myself and the family.
“It’s a great local club and I encourage anyone to come and be a part of it.”
