Seamus Callanan says that the bond he and his Tipperary team-mates forged as minor hurlers stood to them as seniors down the line.
The Drom-Inch player won an All-Ireland medal in 2006 on a Tipperary team that included the likes of Brendan Maher, Paudie Maher, Gearoid Ryan and Michael Cahill.
Amongst others, those four would go onto have distinguished careers with Tipperary, winning senior All-Irelands in the blue and gold.
Callanan himself had a topsy turvy career as a minor, getting dropped from the panel not long before the first round of the championship in his first year.
He made it onto the team the following year only to be dropped to the bench after the Munster final.
"It's a long long time ago now, I know that but you always remember your days as a minor," says the Electric Ireland ambassador, speaking ahead of this Saturday's final between Tipperary and Kilkenny.
"They are special moments in your life where you get the call and you can't believe you're getting to go in for a trial even.
"Personally, I was on those panels, 14, 15 and 16 with Tipp but I was probably outside the top 24 on all of those."
"I got the call-in from Liam Sheedy in my first year, trained the whole year, and was dropped two weeks before they played the first round in Kilmallock, that was a sickener, because you had all the hard work done at that stage."
"I was in then the final year, was starting up to the Munster final then lost my place. We lost to Cork in Thurles. Timmy Dalton came on then and gave an exhibition the following week against Carlow.
"I was left out after that and had to make my peace with a few appearances as sub. Still very special times."
Callanan came on as a sub in the 2006 decider as Tipperary overcame Joe Canning's Galway team by 2-18 to 2-07.
The forward was over-age the following year but Tipperary won the All-Ireland again and Callanan says that the experience those two teams gained as minors stood to them hugely as seniors.
"A lot of the players I played with throughout my career were playing with me then, and we have that special bond, you've great friendships and memories you bring on from that."
"It's a great starting point from your career and you've great memories and friendships that you can bring through from it.
"The minor championship had a huge effect on our bond as players.
"You can't just have individually good players, it has to be gelled well. We genuinely loved being in each others' company.
"We had the best of times together. At weekends, we'd go out together. You're training four or five nights a week together.
"That creates a huge bond because you mightn't see your friends from home as much."
"You're with these guys every night. And I think us being on the minor panel together was a huge help towards making the break together into senior then."
He's hoping the class of '24 will enjoy a similar experience this Saturday night when they take on Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.
Former Tipperary Minor hurler Seamus Callanan was speaking ahead of the 2024 Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship Finals. This summer, Electric Ireland are using their social channels to spotlight players from across the Championships, in recognition of the major impact that playing Minor can have on young people’s future successes, on and off the field. You can follow the campaign on social media @ElectricIreland and via the hashtag #ThisIsMajor.
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