More than scoreboard pressure – Supporting athlete mental health and wellbeing on the road to the AFL Draft

Name: Flinders Foundation
Address: 3 Flinders Drive, Bedford Park, South Australia, 5042, AU
Telephone: (08) 8204 5216
Price range: $

Posted 18 Nov 2025

Research

For South Australia’s most promising young footballers, the road to the AFL is often marked by pressure and uncertainty.

With support from a Flinders Foundation Health Seed Grant, Flinders University researchers have delivered one of the first studies to track athlete wellbeing across the draft year – providing crucial evidence to guide better support for young players.

For every 640,000 young Australians who play football, only 0.3% are drafted into the AFL.

“For years, coaches, families, and clubs have voiced concerns about the pressures young footballers face during their draft year,” said Associate Professor Sam Elliott, Flinders University.

“Despite this, there was almost no empirical data tracking their mental health across the season. We wanted to fill that gap and provide evidence that could genuinely strengthen the duty of care in the AFL talent pathway.”

For Sam, the message from this early research is clear.

“Many young athletes carry enormous internal pressure and often do so quietly. The stability of their mental health scores, despite the intensity of the season, highlights how essential supportive environments are.”

Self-compassion and social support linked with better wellbeing

Despite the stress of key moments throughout the year – including state programs, selections, finals, and the draft itself – mental health and wellbeing remained steady. These results challenge the assumption that “big moments” are the primary drivers of distress.

“Athletes with higher self-compassion were far less likely to experience depression, anxiety, or disordered eating, and reported significantly better wellbeing overall.
This tells us that mental wellbeing is shaped less by week-to-week performance pressures and more by the psychological skills and social environment surrounding the athlete.”

What this means for athletes, coaches, and families

Nurturing self-compassion can help young athletes manage self-criticism and setbacks.

“In a high-stakes pathway where most don’t get drafted, the ability to treat oneself with kindness instead of judgment is incredibly stabilising,” said Sam.

The study’s findings support Sam’s vision of a future where wellbeing is considered just as essential to talent development as physical performance.

“We hope this encourages pathways to embed mental health literacy, reflective practice, self-compassion strategies, and structured social support into their programs.”
“These are skills where, regardless of draft outcome, leave players with psychological skills that support them in sports, school, work, and life.”

Health Seed Grant funding crucial to generating evidence

Thanks to the generosity of our community, a Flinders Foundation Health Seed Grant allowed Sam and his team to collect high-quality data from more than 400 athletes across three key points in the season.

“Collecting high-quality, repeated measures data would not have been possible without dedicated funding,” said Sam.

“It allows researchers to test important ideas, generate foundational evidence, and build momentum around issues that are emerging but under-researched. Early funding enables innovation and opens the door to larger, more sustained studies.”