There’s no rivalry quite like a sibling rivalry.
Growing up, your older brother will always be your first friend and probably your best friend. You’ll learn a lot from them, you’ll learn a lot with them, and they really will have a big influence on the person you become.
You’ll admire them, you’ll be inspired by them, but eventually, you’ll want to become as good as them, and compete with them.
Sean Cavanagh was born four years before his brother Colm, and he was the one who Colm grew up aspiring to be like and to challenge.
Just imagine it, Sean was on the Tyrone minors as a 17-year-old. He won two Ulster minor medals. That must’ve set some example for a 13-year-old Colm. He probably witnessed all the praise and success that it brought to Sean, and he was mad to achieve the same himself.
That’s the way we are. We all hate losing, even from a young age, we want to be the best we can be and we want to be on top of those we are in competition with.
Sean and Colm have played on teams with each other the whole way through their careers, both with their club, Moy Tír na nÓg GAC, and with the Tyrone county team.
They’ve both taken very similar paths in life, they do the same things, and they do them together. They’re both competitive, they’re both striving to be the best and therefore it’s no surprise that they had a few fights among themselves.
Colm was speaking on The GAA Hour Show on Thursday when he revealed the fiercely competitive relationship the pair enjoyed growing up, and even still now.
They did everything together, and it was always a competition, even when they were playing a game on the Playstation.
“Being the younger brother I always wanted to emulate him, and I was trying to do out do him in anything we done. I suppose, as well, we did everything together, between playing Playstations, computers, out playing football or basketball, we did everything together,” he began.
Colm was the baby, the youngster thrown in with the older lads, but he was going to fight his corner, he was going to stand up for himself.
“I was knocking around with his friends, the older guys and that obviously brought us very close.
“We were so competitive in everything we did so there were definitely a few rows down through the years. I suppose it was just one trying to outdo the other,” admitted the Moy club man.
The lads are still side by side, having combined to help Moy win their first Tyrone title in 35 years recently, but when they’re not teammates, everything is a fierce competition.
https://twitter.com/SeanCavanagh14/status/917091468552146944
Whether it’s a game of basketball, or a game of squash, it’s rare that they’d come out talking afterwards.
“We still, even now, playing basketball or playing squash in the off-season, we’d barely ever come out talking after a game,” he claimed.
Constant competition. That’s what made them the players they are today.
You can listen to the Cavanagh interview, and much more from Thursday’s GAA Hour here from 27″00.
