Former student returns to his alma mater to sponsor basketball jerseys

A generous donation from a local supermarket owner has enabled the North Monastery Co-educational Secondary School to purchase two new sets of basketball jerseys.

Tomás Singleton who owns the Supervalu shop in Hollyhill returned to his alma mater last Thursday to present the Cork city secondary school with new basketball jerseys to cater for both male and female students.

The North Monastery Secondary School will become a co-educational secondary school in September 2023.

The Cork city secondary school, which was established in 1811, will be accepting girls into the school community for the first time ever from next September and will officially be known as the North Monastery Co-educational Secondary School.

North Monastery teacher Shane Ryan who acts as the fundraising co-ordinator for the school said they needed new basketball jerseys to cater for all their students. “Because we are going to go co-educational next year we were very anxious to get new basketball jerseys because we need jerseys for both girls and boys. Tomás Singleton of SuperValu in Hollyhill agreed to sponsor two sets of new jerseys for next year. The jerseys are very trendy and beautiful,” he said.

Mr Ryan was full of praise for the sponsorship from local entrepreneur Tomás Singleton. “He is a proud past pupil so he was delighted to help out. Tomás is an excellent supporter of basketball. Tomás was an excellent player. He played for the Mon and Neptune. It is a good start for the basketball teams as we prepare to begin our co-educational journey next September. 

"It is great for the young pupils to see past pupils coming back and supporting their former secondary school. He went above and beyond.” 

“We can’t wait to go co-educational next September,” said Mr Ryan. “The girls will be starting in first year and working their way up. We are very proud of our history. We can’t wait for the next chapter in September.” 

Mr Ryan said basketball remains very strong in their school. “We have a very proud tradition of basketball in our school. We are very proud of it. It is second only to hurling. Neptune is our local club and we have a very good relationship with them. For three months they block-booked their hall for our students to hold training sessions. They even had a player who was on a scholarship from America helping out with training sessions.”