When the World Stops Watching: How Tony Óg Regan struggled to cope with life after Galway hurling

A new book - When the World Stops Watching - tells intimate stories of 16 Irish sportspeople, offering front-row insight into how elite sportspeople fare in the sporting afterlife. Damien Lawlor spoke to former Galway hurler Tony Óg Regan.

PAIN GAME: A dejected Tony Óg Regan after Galway’s All-Ireland SHC quarter-final defeat to Tipperary in 2010. He found the adjustment to life after sport challenging. Picture: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Losing your identity. Uncertainty over what comes next. Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities, excessive time spent on social media and the internet, alcohol and drug use and over-eating, or binging on junk food.

The red flags are everywhere when it comes to life after the game. In rugby, a concerted effort has been made to get players to switch onto the notion of planning for their future from a long way out.