The road to glory in the Australian Football League (AFL) is highly competitive, with as few as 0.01% of more than 640,000 young footballers and athletes from around Australia selected in the annual draft process. 

With so many young players pinning their hopes on selection, sport experts from Flinders University have surveyed more than 400 young male Australian footballers (16-18 years old) to evaluate the psychological impact on their mental health and wellbeing during a draft selection year.