KALBAR State School teacher Sharna Richters has won the Southeast Queensland NRL Teacher of the Year award and the NRL QLD Teacher of the Year Award.
Mrs Richters said she had been unaware she was nominated and news of the wins took her by surprise.
“Last week Monday I was surprised during parade because NRL Queensland came out to Kalbar to give me the awards,” she said.
“It was unexpected but also very exciting.
“It is a prestigious community award and I didn’t even know it existed.”
The NRL Community Awards are held annually and recognise the work put in by those who use sport to make positive impacts within their communities.
Mrs Richters is a PE teacher and also teaches other subjects within the classroom space.
She said teaching and playing NRL with students taught skills that could be used outside of the playing field.
“I was nominated by a lady from the NRL that represents southeast Queensland and Ipswich area,” she said.
“She works with myself and the children here at Kalbar.
“A guy I worked with last year also nominated me, so I found out I had two nominations.”
She said the judges were looking for someone who promoted the sport and was able to get children excited and involved.
Being active and involved in sport has been a part of this teacher’s life and she said ‘I’ve been playing sport since before I could walk’.
Her skill level doesn’t end with NRL, she said tennis, netball, cross country and athletics are all sports she loves throwing herself into.
The NRL Community Awards have been around since 2007 and engages the entire rugby league family from grassroots to elite level.
That the awards honour individuals who work tirelessly in the community is fitting for this enthusiastic PE teacher.
Now that the surprise is out, she’s looking forward to seeing if she progresses when the NRL holds its national award ceremony.