A St Peter's Nursery School pupil has won a prestigious basketball scholarship, which has been named in honour of the late Noah Donohoe.
Phoenix Basketball Club presented the scholarship award to four-year-old Evie McCleery at a special ceremony on Friday following the delivery of a 10-week basketball programme at the school.
The club created the scholarship in memory 14-year-old Noah Donohoe, a Phoenix player of several years, who was found dead in a storm drain after going missing in North Belfast last year.
Our Club is saddened by the news of St Malachys pupil and Belfast Phoenix Basketball Club player, Noah Donohue.
— 🇮🇪EJ Sligo All-Stars🇮🇪 (@SligoAllStars) June 28, 2020
Our thoughts are with Noah, his family, friends, teammates, coaches and wider basketball community at this sad time.
May he Rest In Peace 🏀🙏 pic.twitter.com/AqYwbTNhbZ
Breda Grennell from Phoenix Basketball Club said: "On behalf of Phoenix Basketball Club I am delighted to present the Noah Donohoe Basketball Scholarship Award to Evie McCleery.
"Noah played with Phoenix Basketball for a number of years before his death last June and so this scholarship is a nice way for Phoenix to remember Noah.
"Evie, the winner of this scholarship, has stood out in skill development and attitude this past year.
"Evie will attend the Hard 2 Guard Camp in August at the Lisburn Racquets Centre and so we have included as part of her award her personalised basketball that she brings with her to camp."
St Peter's Nursery School Principal, Rioghnach Hall, said: "We are absolutely delighted – I couldn't be more proud of Evie.
"She is such a hard-working and determined wee lady, and she showed great promise. We're absolutely delighted for her."
She added: "It's a lovely way to end the year and she'll be transitioning into St Peter's Primary School, so when she got her award on Friday her P1 was here and it really was lovely."
