Kieran Shannon: Sharing lessons from the hurling's 'school of hard knocks'

As a player, Tony Óg Regan played in hurling's biggest games and has helped mastermind All-Ireland victories as a performance coach. 

WRITE STUFF: Former Galway hurler Tony Óg Regan with his book ‘MVP’. This is not an autobiography. Nor it is it your usual self-help or sport psychology book, argues our columnist. Picture: Ray Ryan

If you were to casually glance at its cover – the title in big bold letters, no image of a hurler or anyone or anything else, the author’s name only in small font at the bottom – you would assume it is American, as most books in this genre tend to be.

In Ireland, we plainly call the standout player of a campaign or game the player of the year or man of the match. In the States the term they use is MVP – Most Valuable Player – the letters and words Tony Óg Regan has chosen to have emblazoned on the front of his first book.