The calibre of athletes coming through Sheldon College’s Sport Programs is ever-increasing, with several students setting their sights on pursuing international post-school endeavours. Sheldon College graduates, Jessica Hoban and Danielle Bayes, are just two of these students, demonstrating where hard work and dedication can take you.

Sheldon College Alumna, Jess Hoban, moved to the US at the start of 2021 to study at Austin Peay State University as a student athlete in triple and long jump. The university, which is a division 1 college, is situated in Clarksville Tennessee: a very different environment to that of her hometown, Brisbane. While Jess has been faced with more challenges due to the pandemic, she says living and studying in the US has been such an amazing experience, having become “more confident, independent and all-round happier”.

Having just graduated as a part of the 2021 cohort, Danielle Bayes is another Sheldon student set to begin her journey as a student athlete in the US. The 2021 Sheldon Basketballer of the Year accepted an offer at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho for the start of the college year in July 2022. With a 5-week training camp already lined up before the start of the college year, Dani is looking to take all she has learnt during her years at Sheldon to excel in this exciting opportunity.

It is evident that the Sheldon Sports Programs are preparing students to not only compete on an international stage, but to also dream and work hard to achieve these goals. Jess speaks of how Sheldon’s athletics program, run by Ben Norton, helped her discover her love of the sport, pushing and supporting her as she trained to be the best athlete she could be. With the commencement of the Aspiring Athletes Program in 2021, which aims to support students who are excelling in their chosen sport, we look forward to seeing more students such as Dani emerge from the program to pursue a professional career as an athlete.

With both these girls aspiring to compete for Australia, Jess in the 2026 Commonwealth Games and Dani in the Australian WNBL, we cannot wait to see where their US college experiences take each of these girls and the countless students they will inspire!