It is exciting times for Ben Davenport, George Galloway-Gibb and Sophie Lyons as they are chosen to attend Seaford College in England to play their chosen sports.

For the past 4 years a rugby player has been offered the opportunity to attend Seaford College and play their season, with the most recent being current First XV prop Jack Gibson-Pani. Over the years this has expanded to include a netballer with first Brydie Flynn (2016) and then Amanda Sheehan (2017) playing an extended season, experiencing the northern hemisphere style of play. 

The aim of this relationship has always been to expand the horizons of Roncalli students, taking responsible risks in experiencing and involving themselves in a different environment. Sport is the vehicle for making new friendships and developing as a player, and as a leader and role model on their return. The students travel independently to England and are hosted in the Seaford Boarding House with opportunities to travel around England and in some cases Europe. 

The relationship between the two schools has grown closer and Roncalli was proud to host Seaford on their tour of Australia. On this occasion the honours were evenly split, Seaford winning the rugby but the Senior A girls Netball proving too strong for their Seaford counterparts.

For all our students this is a taste of independence and self reliance that they have tasted before and one that can be quite daunting. George Galloway-Gibb (Year 12) will be leaving at the end of the UC Championship rugby season, arriving in time for the Seaford training camp in late August. The halfback (in his second year with the First XV) is a regular in South Canterbury age group representative teams and most recently attended the Cantabrian Training Camp at Burnham for promising players in the Crusaders Secondary Schools Rugby Competition.

In her first year in the Roncalli Senior A netball team going through a rebuilding phase, Sophie Lyons (Year 11) has impressed both College and representative coaches with her work ethic and willingness to seek and act on feedback. She has brought a reliable consistency to the shooting circle, coupled with an energy and the ability to find space for her mid court to feed.

For the first time the Seaford Opportunity has been extended to include a cricketer for the 2019 season. Right handed opening batsman Ben Davenport (Year 12) is looking forward to building on his impressive form from the 2017/18 season, where he scored in excess of 860 runs for the Roncalli First XI, Celtic Premier Men's and representative apearances with South Canterbury and Canterbury U17, including four half centuries and 2 full centuries. He is looking forward to doubling up on his summers with 12 months of cricket.

The Seaford Opportunities are offered annually with players from sports asked to apply through the College's daily notices. If students wish to know further about these they should contact Mr Jones for details.