Tony Óg Regan
GALWAY HURLER 2004-2013
An All-Ireland winner at minor, Regan was called up to Galway’s intermediate team, winning an All-Ireland Intermediate Championship. The following year he was among the Tribesmen’s senior ranks, winning two National Leagues and a Leinster Championship. The three-time all-star nominee has also worked as a performance psychologist with Tipperary from 2016-18, Galway hurling and football 2015-2019 and Limerick hurling team in 2019. Dear younger self,
There is a great vehicle to express yourself through the experience of playing and being involved in sport. You will develop many great qualities through this experience that you may not fully realise now as a young person. The ability to communicate and relate to others will serve you well in any situation. The ability to commit to practising something and staying at it until it is a skill you are comfortable using under the highest pressure. The practice you do away from the sport on your own will make the game easier for you when the challenge is at its greatest. This belief that our talent is not fixed, we can learn and develop any skill with quality of focus and repetition, will spread across every aspect of our lives.
Embrace the challenges and knockbacks that life will inevitably bring and see them as learning moments and facing into growing as a person. Accept that WHAT YOU DO is not WHO YOU ARE. We will have many roles in life be it an athlete, friend, son, daughter, father, mother, manager, lawyer, doctor. The mind will want us at times to overvalue the importance of these roles. It is important to separate you the performer from who you really are. You mean many different things to many different people.
We can have wins and losses in sport and life, but they do not define who we are. People love you because of how you make them feel. Keep showing up with love, joy, peace and kindness for yourself, the community, and others in life. Great moments and memories can be created every day in many ways. Be open to new ideas, people, perspectives, and experiences. Enjoy the journey and stop overly worrying about the destination or outcome. Be fully present in the here and now. This is where inner joy, peace and confidence lives most of the time. Do the things that excite you, be around the people that make you feel good about yourself and the future, listen to and observe people that inspire you.
Treat your mind well with positive and helpful thoughts, take care of yourself with good wholesome and nourishing foods. Move the body every day, spend time in nature, help others, clean up your environment and reflect on what went well today and what you are thankful for in life right now.
Enjoy the journey. Be honest, kind and caring. Bring laughter and playfulness to life.
Best wishes
Tony Óg Regan
Extract from The Player's Advice - Tips and tactics from GAA Stars. The Player’s Advice is a compilation of guidance aimed at you, the player, to give you the tools and disciplines to improve and excel in your code. With advice from over 100 of the top footballers, hurlers and camogie players in a range of areas such as gym, nutrition, routine, lifestyle, skill development, mindset and preparation.
All royalties go to Self Help Africa, an Irish international development charity, dedicated to ending hunger and poverty in rural Africa.
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