Joe Canning is hoping that his nephew Jack is allowed to grow up and make his own mistakes, and not be judged by his family name.
Earlier this week it emerged that the teenager, who burst onto the national scene with two goals in Galway’s All-Ireland minor final win last year, had decided to concentrate his sporting focus on hurling.
He had attracted attention from Connacht Rugby and several Aussie Rules AFL sides, but the 18-year-old will only be lining out for Portumna and Galway’s Under-21s this year.
Uncle Joe, who was a teen prodigy himself and helped the Tribesmen to last September’s historic Liam MacCarthy Cup win, knows there is additional pressure on Jack just because of his name.
He doesn’t feel this is fair and hopes that the youngster isn’t judged too harshly as he grows and develops in the game.
"He gets a lot more attention and a lot more abuse as well, which comes with it unfortunately," said Joe, speaking at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy’s All-Ireland hurling sponsorship.
"He needs to be his own person at the end of the day. He needs to plow his own furrow and be himself.
"His name shouldn’t really come into it in an ideal world. The minor parachuted him a little bit into people’s minds but he’s still young. He’s 19 on Saturday.
"It’s only his second year playing club senior. When I was 19 I had four or five years, I was playing at 15. So I grew up a little bit quicker. He has a lot to learn in a way.
"You need to let him figure it out for himself; let him be him. I don’t want him to be like Ollie (Joe’s brother) or me, or how we deal with things. He’s his own person.
"He has to live and learn, sometimes by his mistakes as much as anything, and how well or badly he plays in matches."
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Jack is studying in GMIT and is likely to feature for Galway’s Under-21s this summer having not yet made the step up to senior inter-county.
Joe made his senior debut with the county while still in his teens and he has lived much of his life in the spotlight.
He believes it’s much harder to be young these days and hopes that Jack isn’t judged too harshly as he makes his way in the world.
"It’s a different age. Even since I grew up, it’s a different age of social media and stuff like that," he said.
"It’s very easy at the touch of a button to criticise and big them up to be something that they’re not.
"People live in a fantasy world nowadays where they think you can expect more of people.
"At the end of the day, he’s an 18-year-old kid who plays a bit of hurling. He’s the same as any other young lad growing up. He just needs time.
"Just because he won an All-Ireland last year at minor level doesn’t mean he’s any better or any worse than anyone else."
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