The Kids follows the lives of five draft hopefuls and their families as they inch towards their dream of making it onto an AFL list.

Directors Statement

It was 2am on a Monday morning. I was driving out of a town somewhere between Adelaide and Melbourne and, as I sped back up to the highway mandated 110 kilometres per hour, a kangaroo flashed before the car. Thankfully we missed it, but my panicked screams woke up our producer Tim, who was attempting to sneak in a power nap along the delirious journey.

We had just spent the weekend in Adelaide, following Channy Mitchell, an Indigenous artist trying to make it onto an AFLW list, and her game playing for Woodville in the SANFLW. As Tim came to, rubbing his bloodshot eyes, and I had a reluctant gulp of iced coffee, we both couldn’t help but wonder: “Is this all worth it?”

The answer, then and as it has been since we first put the wheels in motion to film a feature documentary following five kids as they try to get drafted to the AFLM and AFLW back in February 2021, was: “Without a doubt.”

The Kids has always been a concept centred on the journey, not the last stop. For Tim and I, that journey has taken us from a sweltering Mildura to a windswept Hampton Beach in the dead of the morning, from the misty hills of Foster to the hallowed halls of Xavier College, among many others. More than anything, what makes it all worth the effort is not the story but the people – Channy Mitchell, Will Ashcroft, Yasmin Duursma and the Davey twins, Jayden and Alwyn. There is something unfailingly inspiring about witnessing young people doing their very best, especially when things don’t go their way. And although the story is grounded in the pursuit of their footballing dreams, we learnt very quickly that football is perhaps the least of these kids’ strengths – and that is saying something.

Another discovery on the journey was the role of the kids’ families in the story. Whether it’s the long drives to training, the countless physio and doctors’ appointments, cooking meals, making sure they’re at every game – this film is a celebration of the parents as much as it is of the kids themselves. And through speaking with their teachers, coaches, teammates, opponents and bosses, it’s clear that to make it to the AFLM or AFLW, you genuinely need a ‘village’.

So it comes as no surprise that while Tim and I have tried to remain impartial storytellers, we have found ourselves undeniably invested in the kids’ lives, even willing to dodge kangaroos along the Western Highway in the dead of the night.

– Coming 2023