Updated at 09.43

THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE is an extract from ‘Dark Blue’ by Shane Carthy.

In September 2007, I began attending my local secondary school, Portmarnock Community School.

I got involved in almost every sport the school had to offer – Gaelic, soccer, hurling, athletics, you name it! This allowed me to quickly make new friends.

I wasn’t the most self-assured of people, but sport seemed to bring out a certain confidence in me.

Approaching someone in class or on the corridors intimidated me, but during or after a bout of exercise I wouldn’t have had a moment’s hesitation, so this was where my friendships began.

One sport that I tried my hand at was golf. My interest in the sport started when I found myself out in my back field one day with my friend Conor, who’d brought along a golf club and ball. He handed over the club and I swung at the ball.

After a few aimless swipes into thin air, the club head made contact and the ball went soaring off into the distance. At that moment, my passion for the game of golf was born.

This by no means meant that my love for other sports fell by the wayside, especially Gaelic football and soccer. In fact, in the same month that I joined Malahide Golf Club, I joined Malahide FC too.

Many young boys dream of becoming a professional footballer, and I was no different. I just happened to be juggling a lot of dreams, including also playing with the Dublin senior footballers.

As if my stock couldn’t grow any more in my first year at secondary school, I ended it off by picking up player of the year in the first year Gaelic football team at the school sports awards.

First year was another building block in the ever-growing pedestal that people saw me as standing on.

As I headed into second year, I decided to narrow my sporting focus somewhat. I would concentrate on Gaelic and soccer, though I also kept up a bit of golf and pitch and putt.

I continued to excel on the sporting field, captaining my club and school Gaelic teams that year. Captains are notorious for being extremely vocal, but I didn’t quite fit this mould. There were no rousing speeches from me before games, and even out on the field you’d hardly hear a peep out of me. Neither my school nor club manager demanded this from me – they simply wanted ‘my feet to do the talking’.

My club manager at the time, James Gahan, took me aside early on in the season. He always had a knack for saying the right things when they were needed, especially with me.

I didn’t mind captaining the team, but a part of me thought I was taking the opportunity away from someone else who could play the role better.

James could sense this, and he told me, ‘I don’t think you realise the respect the lads have for you. All I want you to do this season is play football, and the rest will follow.’

I guess this was an example of how my teammates and friends saw me — as a person to look up to and aspire to be like. I didn’t want any of that, but because of a natural talent for sport, this was where I was.

The summer of second year arrived. While most people my age were down at the beach socialising, gathered around in a field or attending house parties, I wasn’t doing any of those things. I was either at the Gaelic, golf or pitch and putt club, honing the skills I was learning.

The work I was doing was paying off too. I once again represented Dublin at various events throughout the summer. My focus was very much on Gaelic and soccer, with golf being something I enjoyed on the side.

It simply wasn’t in my nature to be happy with just being okay at something I was doing. I realised that I might not reach the top level in everything I did, but it wouldn’t be through lack of trying.

So, with school finished up for the summer, I spent hours on end up on the range in Malahide Golf Club, determined to continue improving my game. By the summer’s end, the work I’d put in had paid dividends, as I was awarded Juvenile Golfer of the Year.

I entered my Junior Certificate year. The only things on my mind though were sport-related. I continued to play Gaelic, soccer, golf and pitch and putt.

While all around me were stressed at the thought of sitting their first State exams, I got daily respite from all of it through physical exercise.

I wasn’t in tune with my mental health; in fact, I didn’t know what the term ‘mental health’ really meant at this time. But I had made the association that physical exercise had a positive effect on my being as a whole, mind included.

My classmates were glad when the exams were all over, as was I. The day we finished, my classmates went one way and I went another.

While most went in search of any amount of alcohol they could get their hands on ahead of house parties that night, I made my way to the GAA club to practise my frees. Nobody questioned why I wasn’t joining them – by then, they knew none of that appealed to me.

In that summer of third year, the inter-county scene was getting slightly more serious. We were training twice a week in preparation for the Gerry Reilly Tournament – an U16s tournament for teams from all around Leinster.

A few of my teammates and I had aspirations to play Dublin minor football the following January, and the tournament was a good showcase to get you recognised.

Football wasn’t the only thing I was representing Dublin in that summer. I was selected as part of a team of seven who represented Dublin in the Leinster and All-Ireland pitch and putt championships.

We were successful in the initial stages and were crowned Leinster champions, but fell at the final hurdle, coming runners up in the All-Ireland to a very good Cork outfit.

The football finished with us failing to reach the final of the Gerry Reilly Tournament, but I was hoping bigger things were just around the corner.

I entered fourth year knowing that it was time to make a decision: Would I choose Gaelic or soccer?

I made my decision in December – I would go with Gaelic. I was selected to represent the Dublin minor footballers in January – my first year playing minor football for Dublin. Here I met a man who has been so pivotal in where I am today – Dessie Farrell, who was my Dublin minor manager for two years and my manager for three years at U21 level.

So, in January, we embarked on a journey that we hoped would bring us to the All-Ireland final in September. The perception people had of me, as the guy living an idyllic life, was further enhanced, particularly in school.

When people asked me what I was up to, and I replied that I was training or playing a match for Dublin, it seemed to create an air of invincibility around me.

Once the term ‘Dublin footballer’ was mentioned, people looked at and treated me differently. I never thought of myself as different; I just felt that I had an opportunity to do what I loved at the highest level.

The team’s preparations began with the League, which ran until the start of April. We reached the League final, where we faced Longford, eventually coming out as eight-point winners.

It was nice to pick up some silverware this early on in the campaign, but Dessie, as all great managers do, made us quickly put that to the back of our minds. We switched our focus to the next job at hand – the Leinster Championship.

We had navigated our way to the Leinster final by mid-July, overcoming Westmeath, Longford and Kildare in the process. In order to secure the Leinster Championship, we had to beat Meath in the final. A lacklustre display in the first half didn’t leave much between us coming into the break.

However, we were able to really turn on the style in the second half, and we ran out 10-point winners in the end; job done.

The momentum we had built throughout the Leinster Championship had us in prime condition going into the All-Ireland series. The goal that we had set ourselves way back in January – to reach the All-Ireland final – came to fruition, as we defeated Cork and Galway in the quarter- and semi-finals respectively. Unfortunately, we lost the All-Ireland final against Tipperary to a last-minute goal.

It was a bitter pill to swallow. For some, it was the end of the road at minor grade, but luckily for me and a number of others, we would have another chance the following year to win the Championship. However, little did I know about the challenges I was about to face.

‘Dark Blue’ by Shane Carthy is available from all bookshops now, in stores and online, priced €14.99.