WHILE many school leavers will eagerly flock to the 'schoolies' celebrations around the country later this month, Luke English will happily make another sacrifice in his fanatical dedication to football.
The West Australian prospect wants nothing more than to hear his name called at this week's NAB AFL Draft, and he's spent the last few years doing everything in his power to achieve his lifelong dream.
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Whether it's undertaking boxing classes, hiring a sprint coach or abstaining from alcohol, English said bypassing the time-honoured teen gathering was an easy decision.
"I'm not going to go to 'schoolies' because it's too close to the draft and I don't want to lose my fitness if do get selected," English told AFL.com.au.
"I want to make a good first impression, so I'll give it a miss.
"Some recruiters have asked me if I drink, and I don't.
"I'm one of the most dedicated footballers in the country."
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While English has always loved the game, the decorated junior's commitment to it went to another level when he missed selection for the Western Australian under-16s two seasons ago.
From that point on, the hard-running inside midfielder hasn't concluded a season without a major accolade, winning 2017 Jack Clarke Medal as the best colts player in the WAFL, while he finished this year's NAB AFL Under-18 Championships as a well-deserved All Australian.
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"I really had to switch on after missing state under-16s, so I undertook boxing to help my fitness and a got a sprint coach to help me with my speed," English said.
"I've always wanted an AFL career, and I knew I had to build on winning the best colts player last year without getting ahead of myself.
"Going into the under-18 championships I just wanted to play well, but to be named an All Australian meant a lot to me because it vindicated all the hard work I'd put in.
"After some failures in my footy career, it was one of my proudest moments."
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Along with averaging 23 disposals, five tackles, two clearances and four score involvements throughout the championships, English, sporting his trusty sky-blue helmet, also wowed recruiters with his extraordinary GPS results.
With several state running titles to his name, the Perth Demons product believes his elite endurance isn't the only attribute that will hopefully see him realise his long-held desire by the end of the week.
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"I see myself as inside midfielder who can play a number of positions like small forward and on the wing," English said.
"I've got the flexibility, but the main goal is to play as an inside midfielder.
"I think that suits my work-rate and that helps me get to many contests and run my opponents into the ground.
"My game awareness is also pretty good, but I just need to tidy up my decision-making, so I've been working really hard on that.
"I've been really happy with my season considering I set some small goals with my manager Cam Read, and that was to play good footy and also perform well at the Combine (fifth in the 2km time trial), so I thought I did pretty well.
"Hopefully I've done enough to get drafted."
