Foundation Gold Coast Suns member Charlotte Hammans ready to forge own career with club

AS a junior footballer Charlotte Hammans dreamt of playing at Metricon Stadium alongside her idols at the Suns in the AFL. Now the foundation Suns member will build her career at the same ground.

AS a junior footballer Charlotte Hammans dreamt of playing at Metricon Stadium alongside her idols at the Suns in the AFL.

The AFLW didn’t exist and neither did junior female teams on the Gold Coast but Hammans looked past the barriers and pushed on.

“From when I was really little I always wanted to play footy even though there wasn’t anything for the girls at the time,” Hammans said.

“I just thought, I can play with the boys can’t I?”

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Hammans and her family are all foundation members of the Suns, including including parents Judi and Mark, brother Matthew and sister Tiffany.

She was at the club’s first AFL game in 2011 at the Gabba and saw them win for the first time at Carrara against GWS in 2012.

A photo of the family is displayed in the stands at Metricon Stadium around the ground she will now build her career on.

Now the 17-year-old has the rare chance to play for the club she supports after being one of the first three players signed by Gold Coast for the women’s team that will enter the AFLW in 2020.

Charlotte Hammans poses during a Gold Coast Suns AFLW Media Opportunity on February 08, 2019 in Gold Coast, Australia. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

“It’s pretty surreal,” the 172cm forward said.

The AFLW is currently full of players who have crossed over from rival sports due to the opportunity to play at a higher level, increased financial incentives or to return to a game they cherished but could see no realistic pathways to build a career from.

Hammans is part of a new generation who have been in football nearly their entire lives.

She started through Auskick at the age of five, played her junior football at the Burleigh Bombers where she spent eight of her 10 years there playing with males and then switched to Bond University to play in the QAFLW in 2018.

Hammans was Queensland’s leading goal kicker at the 2018 national championships, booting four goals in five games and played in the State of Origin match for the All Stars after being included in the under-18 All Australian squad.

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Hammans said she wanted to help build and foster a culture of togetherness in the Suns AFLW team that will continue to take shape throughout 2019.

“It would be good to be known as a really close group, like a family where everyone gets on and knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses, on and off the field,” Hammans said.