Noleen Lennon (born 22 March 1984), also known as Noleen Armstrong, is a former Northern Ireland netball international. She represented Northern Ireland at the 2003, 2011 and

2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with match ...

s and at the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was also a member of the Northern Ireland teams that were silver medallists at the 2012 and

2017 European Netball Championship The 2017 European Netball Championship was held in Cardiff was held from 6-8 October 2017. The winners were England over Northern Ireland second. Third was Scotland ahead of hosts Wales fourth. Invited team Fiji were fifth. Results Table † In ...

s. She captained Northern Ireland when they won the 2009 Nations Cup and then again at the

2011 World Netball Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Sin ...

Early life, family and education

Lennon is from

Portaferry Portaferry () is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is home to the Exploris aquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Flo ...

, County Down. She is a relative of Ciara Mageean, a track and field athlete who also represented Northern Ireland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. While attending

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

, Lennon served as president of the university's sports union.

Playing career

Clubs

Belfast Ladies

Lennon plays for Belfast Ladies in the Northern Ireland Premier League.

Team Northumbria

Lennon has played for Team Northumbria in the

Netball Superleague The Netball Super League is a top level netball league featuring teams from the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball but features teams based in England, Wales and Scotland. The league was commenced playing at the 2005–0 ...

. She initially played for Team Northumbria during the 2005–06 season. As part of their preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the

Northern Ireland national netball team The Northern Ireland national netball team represent Northern Ireland in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the European Netball Championship and the Nations Cup. The team was founded in 1 ...

formed a partnership with Team Northumbria. This saw Lennon and six other Northern Ireland internationals – Oonagh McCullough,

Fionnuala Toner Fionnuala Toner (born 6 March 1990) is a Northern Ireland netball international. She represented Northern Ireland at the 2011 and 2019 Netball World Cups and at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was also a member of the Northern Irela ...

Caroline O'Hanlon Caroline O'Hanlon is a Northern Ireland netball international and an Armagh ladies' Gaelic footballer. She has also represented Ireland at international rules. She was a member of the Northern Ireland teams at the 2003, 2011 and 2019 Netba ...

, Gemma Gibney,

Michelle Drayne Michelle Drayne (born 22 September 1988) is a Northern Ireland netball international and a former Antrim ladies' Gaelic footballer. She represented Northern Ireland at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2019 Netball World Cup. She ...

and Niamh Cooper – play for Team Northumbria during the 2014 season.

Northern Ireland

Lennon represented

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

at the 2003, 2011 and

s and at the

and 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was also a member of the Northern Ireland teams that were silver medallists at the 2012 and

s. She captained Northern Ireland when they won the 2009 Nations Cup and then again at the

. Lennon initially retired after the 2018 Commonwealth Games but was recalled for the 2019 Netball World Cup as an injury replacement for Lisa Bowman who missed out due to serious ankle injury. In January 2018 she had helped Northern Ireland secure their place in the 2019 Netball World Cup with a player of the match performance against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

during qualification tournament.

Other sports

Lennon has also played both

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

at club level. Together with

, she was a member of the Ulster Rockets team that won Basketball Ireland's Women's National Cup in January 2011. She also played gaelic football for the Antrim GAA club, Glenavy.

Honours

;

* Nations Cup **''Winners'': 2009: 1 *

European Netball Championship The European Netball Championship (also known as the Netball Europe Championships) is an annual netball competition organised by Netball Europe. The Championships or "Open" section features the INF World Rankings, highest-ranked European nations, an ...

**''Runner up'': 2012,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

: 2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennon, Noleen 1984 births Living people Northern Ireland netball internationals Netball players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland 2019 Netball World Cup players Team Northumbria netball players Netball Superleague players Alumni of Ulster University Irish women's basketball players Sportspeople from Bangor, County Down 2011 World Netball Championships players