If there’s one person at North Melbourne who knows what it’s like to have their ambitions crushed at an early age, it’s Emma Kearney.

At just 12, the champion AFLW player was told to give up on her dream to play professional football, because she was a girl.

“My dreams were completely shattered,” Kearney revealed to North Media.

While her brothers were able to follow their dreams and play junior football with ample boys competitions and various clinics, Kearney was told to look for another hobby because no pathway for girls existed.

“I was devastated and angry at the sport,” Kearney said.

“I started hating footy for a period of time. “

Several years later, when Kearney moved to Melbourne, a friend invited her to attend to a Melbourne University Women’s Football Club (MUWFC) practice and she fell in love with the game all over again.

While times have now changed for the better, Kearney knows there’s still a long way to go to reach a level playing field.

“If you flip to the sport’s section in a magazine, it’s all males. And you can’t be what you can’t see,” Kearney said. 

“Men go through school and then straight into a professional sport. For women, we have to go through university, we have to study, we have to work full-time, and we do sport all at the same time. 

“I think that a lot of women are really grateful for the chance to play in upper level sports, but for the males, it’s just part of their life.” 

Kearney’s experiences as a child, and being told she couldn’t play AFLW, fuel her to this today and also power her fight for gender equality in sport.  

And the AFLW’s best player is a force to be reckoned with. When she spoke at the Harmony through Diversity Youth Summit, all in attendance took notice.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity, but at the same time we need to stop saying, ‘We’re thankful for it’ and start saying, ‘We deserve it!’”, she said. 

Kearney hopes no girls have to feel like she did growing up; treated less important than the boys. However, she acknowledges massive change is needed.

“The average annual salary for men is $300,000 and the average woman’s is $10,000, so quite a significant difference,” she said.

“When women get injured often it’s because we don’t have as much training or resources as the men do. For females after surgery they have to take time off of their full-time job and sometimes that cost for taking time off doesn’t get covered by the insurance.”