Emma Pittman feels more at home at the Suns than any other sporting club

Adversity is a word Emma Pittman knows all too well.

ADVERSITY is a word Emma Pittman knows all too well.

When she was just 15 and living in Mackay, her mother passed away, prompting her to relocate to Brisbane and move in with her sister.

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Just weeks after signing her playing contract with the Suns, she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament while playing for Coorparoo.

And in January, she suffered a setback in her rehabilitation while on the road to recovery.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 04: Emma Pittman during a Gold Coast Suns AFLW training session on February 04, 2020 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

But where there is adversity, there is resilience and Pittman boasts the latter in spades.

Pittman’s first foray in sport came via soccer she started as a kid and continued when she moved to Brisbane.

Playing as a goalkeeper for The Gap, what started as a way to meet people soon turned into a potential pursuit when she was signed by the Brisbane Roar for the 2012-13 W-League season.

SEQ Diamond League (women's soccer) grand final between The Gap and Redlands. Emma Pittman challenges Steph Letham for the ball Pic Chris Higgins

But she struggled to balance her sporting and professional career in a time when female athletes were stuck on minimum wages so she returned to The Gap to play socially which is when she discovered Aussie rules.

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“My partner Dania at the time was playing for Coorparoo so I went to a few training sessions with her but I wasn’t too keen on it at the start,” she said.

“I didn’t know a lot about it at the start but then a slowly became more interested in going to footy sessions than soccer.

“I played both sports for a while there so I had the chance to compare them back to back and the difference was black and white.”

Pittman spent two years at Coorparoo before following Dania to the University of Queensland where her star quickly rose and the Brisbane Lions swooped with pick 37 at the 2017 AFLW draft.

“My second home is at work at my cafe so I was busy the whole day,” Pittman said of draft day.

“I was on the coffee machine and was trying to duck out back where my laptop was and I ended up missing the pick and Craig Starcevich (Lions coach) when he called me.”

Emma Pittman of the Lions celebrates her first match with teammates after the Lions win during the AFLW round 4 match between the Brisbane Lions and the Fremantle Dockers at South Pine Sports Complex in Brisbane, Saturday, February 24, 2018. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)

When the Suns came knocking after the 2019 AFLW season, the 27-year-old almost immediately rubbished the idea.

Moving to Brisbane at age 18, she started working at the Espresso Engine cafe in the city and has never left.

She now part-owns the cafe and at first assumed the commute to the Coast would be impossible.

“My work and life were in Brisbane,” Pittman said.

“I drove down and checked out the facilities and everything was there and it had a family feel.

“I feel more included and accepted at the Suns than I have at any other team.”

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After injuring her ACL in early 2019, Pittman has taken the chance to try her hand at coaching and has been recently assisting Andrew Swallow and working with the midfield.

“I was hit with the unfortunate news but the club didn’t stop supporting me,” she said.

“Coaching is going to help me when I get back to playing.

“Before my setback, I was already so excited to be part of the Suns and it’s going to mean so much more when I do pull on the guernsey.”