Notre Dame Alumnus Patrick Onyia has scored a place in Northumbria University’s Basketball Men’s 1st team.
Patrick was already an outstanding player when he joined Notre Dame’s Basketball Academy in 2016. During his time at college, he was named Basketball Player of the Year at the Team ND Sports Awards. He achieved all this while studying for A level Maths, Product Design and Physics in preparation for his career as an architect.
In September 2018, Patrick began a degree in architecture at Northumbria University. After a year in the Men’s 2nd team, he impressed the coaches so much that they moved him into the 1st team for the 2019-20 season. For Patrick, ‘going into the season as a 1st team player for a top basketball University in the UK is a challenge that I am taking on with great excitement, and one where I will definitely be giving my all.’
Patrick has fond memories of Notre Dame’s sporting community. ‘I really enjoyed my time playing basketball for Team ND. From the training sessions, to our games every Wednesday, the College has been a major factor in shaping the player I am now and the player I will be in the future. Having Ricky as a coach at Notre Dame helped me a lot because he has the ability to see the game from both a coaching and a playing perspective, since he is still an active professional player for the Bradford Dragons.’
In fact, the head coach for our Basketball Academy, Ricky Fetske, also played for Northumbria University’s Men’s 1st team. During the 2013-14 academic year, Ricky was studying there for an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Shortly after that, he began working at Notre Dame, and has been supporting students like Patrick to achieve sporting excellence ever since.
We wish Patrick the best of luck for the 2019-20 season and beyond.