How did this school produce four elite athletes from one year 12 cohort?

The class of 2023 has proven to be one out of the box for the Warrnambool school.

Graduates George Stevens, Luamon Lual, Milly Illingworth and Jaylen Brown are embarking on sporting careers.

Stevens and Lual were drafted to AFL clubs Geelong and Essendon respectively on Tuesday, November 21 - just five days after their year 12 graduation.

Emerging cricketer Illingworth was playing WBBL for Melbourne Stars while still a student and returned to the college for the graduation ceremony before jetting off the next morning for a match in Brisbane.

Brown missed the celebrations as he's already immersed in a professional wheelchair basketball league season in Italy.

Proud health and PE co-ordinator Ben Walsh said the quartet's success was a glowing endorsement for the school's sporting programs.

Walsh, who also works at AFL club Western Bulldogs as its Next Generation Academy coach, is among roughly 25 sports staff at the school.

It places a strong emphasis on providing opportunities - including academies and extra training - for its budding athletes.

"It is pretty unique to have four at the elite level now from the one cohort," Walsh told The Standard.

"As a school we'd like to think we can support our kids in whatever they're chasing and their pathways have all been a little bit different but I think the school has played a role in helping all of them in different ways, whether that is helping them manage their workload or if they have to miss classes for camps or carnivals.

"We can probably look back and be pretty proud of the way we've helped them - and all of our students - to do what they wanted to."

The school, split across two campuses and featuring 1200 students, has worked diligently to provide extra sporting options for students considering a career in the industry.

It works with and complements clubs' approaches.

Stevens and Lual played football for Hampden league club South Warrnambool, Illingworth came through the ranks at South West Cricket outfit Heytesbury Princetown and Brown was a regular basketball player for Warrnambool Basketball Inc.

"Sport is a huge part of what we do and that's reflective of the community," Walsh said.

"It's something we put a lot of time and energy into. Our academy programs run through years eight, nine and 10.

"We have academies for footy, cricket, netball, basketball and surf lifesaving and they essentially become subjects for the kids and then we have a high performance program as well which runs before and after school and that's for our high-end athletes for any sport and Shane Smith and Mick Clements run that.

"Luamon and George came through both of those. It is nice to have a couple go through that and make it to the elite level.

"They came in for about four to six weeks before the (AFL testing) combine and were doing some extra sessions with Shane before and after school to prepare too."

Walsh also worked closely with Lual in the Western Bulldogs' NGA academy while Stevens spent a week at the Kennel in the pre-season as part of the AFL Academy.

"That week was definitely pretty cool for all three of us to be full-time in the AFL program," he said.

One of the school's major goals is to help the students balance study and sport.

Walsh said programs were individually tailored. Brown and Illingworth both graduated but opted to bypass exams which provide an ATAR score while Stevens and Lual decided to do their exams.

"Milly's workload (with cricket) has been busiest in the last little bit," he said.

"She worked really closely with Shane Smith, the head of our senior school, in managing what that looked like.

"The boys (Stevens and Lual) were busy in the middle of the year with the national championships and they'd go to Ballarat every Thursday afternoon for (GWV Rebels') training.

"Sitting down early in the year and helping them look at their schedules and finding a way they can balance it was important and there is a whole range of staff. There's not just one staff member that does all that."

Walsh believes Emmanuel College's approach has helped retain students who have been offered scholarships to prestigious boarding schools across Victoria.

"I am sure they considered that at the time but I think as a school we're really proud of the support we have put around our students in whatever career they're chasing," he said.

"It's a great dedication from those guys to do all the travel and balance everything and use the support and programs that are on offer in Warrnambool."

Walsh is in awe of the dedication Illingworth, Brown, Stevens and Lual have shown towards their goals.

Both Illingworth and Brown have already represented Australia at junior level with aspirations to make open teams in the future.

Of the four, Brown, who is chasing a Paralympics debut, faced one of the most difficult decisions - whether to move to Europe to chase his goal or remain at home.

"I think it is an amazing story. I was having a chat to him before it and was saying it's pretty crazy he's going to a country where they speak a different language and he doesn't really know anyone," Walsh said.

"But I think it's a pretty courageous thing to do. He's obviously pretty talented but for an 18-year-old kid to fly around the other side (is massive).

"We are rapt and I think he's got a very exciting future. It is going to be really interesting to see where he ends up."