What a tank.
Ah, the good, old tackle bag. It’s a write of passage. it can daunt you if you let it but it can make you if you can overcome it.
Many a child all over Ireland has been scarred by the tackle bag but, sooner or later, the day will come when you’re ready for it.
In Derry, for one little hearty tank of a man, his retribution came only minutes after succumbing to the might of his coach and the force of the bag.
At the Dungiven summer camps in the heart of the Oak Leaf county, a young under 6 player by the name of Quentin was hit to the turf by a tackle bag but he wasn’t taken off the pitch and carried home.
He was no sooner piling into it again to tumble the bag and his coach to the ground.
The wee man hit it for all his worth.
But he bounced back and down in a nasty landing.
Do you think he backed down from the challenge again?
Not on your bleedin’ nelly.
Quentin fronted up and went at the tackle bag with even more venom than before.
And didn’t his coach just feel it?
Take. A. Seat.
And all of it was captured brilliantly by St. Canice’s who recorded the under 6 player’s struggles – and then his glorious triumph.
You know, in an era where parents are criticised for mollycoddling their children and we’re all told that we’re spoiling the younger generation, we’re wrapping them in cotton wool and they’re not learning the important life lessons of winning and losing, it’s heartening to see that some people are still being brought up the old-fashioned way.
The best way.
Yes, you might take a knock. Yes, you might get brought to your knees. But it’s up to you to react. It’s up to you to hit back and not let it happen again.
In the space of a few minutes, young Quentin from Derry learned that lesson and he conquered the tackle bag.
He showed that there’s nothing to fear. You might get hurt along the way, sure. But, by Jesus, it’s not going to keep you down.
