Elite Youth Athletes are a unique group that is receiving growing research attention. The scientific literature supports that elite youth athletes experience both universal and sport-related mental health risks. For adolescent athletes, there can be additional challenges in this life stage where athletes are balancing sport development alongside key stages of life development. To support elite youth athletes, mental health prevention and promotion for this group is needed and elite sport environments can also provide an opportunity to nurture mental health and wellbeing skills.

For those youth athletes who progress into the elite level, building wellbeing and mental skills can help with protecting and promoting mental health and performance into transition into elite levels. With consideration of models of youth development, the AFL’s research guides how to support elite youth athletes to build wellbeing and support transition readiness.