McAuley College has only its second Year 12 class this year but the Beaudesert school is already set for its first Confraternity Carnival.
McAuley College will be one of several new schools to contest the Carnival at St Laurence’s College’s Runcorn fields in June, securing a milestone for the Brisbane Catholic Education school.
It began only seven years ago when 36 Year 7 students attended on the first day. The first senior class graduated last year, a proud achievement for the College.
While McAuley College is young, it’s already developed a strong rugby league program. It has competed against larger schools in the South East College Association (SECA) competition.
Despite facing Confro regulars like Clairvaux MacKillop, McAuley College has won all but one match in the last two years while competing in SECA, earning an invitation to Confro 2023.
For a few McAuley students, it won’t be the first taste of Confro.
Last year, seven students were invited by other colleges to join their Confraternity campaigns. Most of those students will now represent their own school in 2023 and bring with them the experience of playing the carnival a year before.
McAuley College Assistant Principal David Harris said he was proud of what the school accomplished in rugby league and looked forward to supporting the team at the carnival.
“I have been involved in taking eight teams to the carnival from a previous school and can attest to it being a challenging but very rewarding week for the students,” Mr Harris said.
“It challenges them to give their best to each game and then to back it up and play the next day.
“To be invited to such a prestigious rugby league carnival, that has a long waiting list of schools, highlights the strong sporting reputation that McAuley College is building.
“It is wonderful to have such strong community support of the team. The boys, whilst being very competitive, always conduct themselves in a respectful manner and are a credit to the Scenic Rim community.”
McAuley College will make its debut in Division 3 of this year’s Carnival which begins on June 26.
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