Fists of fury, warm heart makes Greentree a special champion

Boxer Emma-Sue Greentree has a warrior’s spirit, but she hasn’t allowed it to make her heart so hard . . . or cold . . . that there’s no warmth in it for the children she assists as a Special and Inclusive Education Teacher’s Aide. 

Greentree, a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder, is in Colombia competing in the Copa Americas Tournament from July 10-20. She’ll then head to the UK in August for a pre-world championships training camp in Glasgow before throwing her loaded lefts ‘n rights at the world championships in Liverpool, England this September.

But any notion of the 26-year-old from the Central Coast being a hard-boiled pug holds no weight the instant she speaks about her students, especially the trust she’s earned from them.

“Making the connections with the kids,” is Central Coast-based Greentree’s response when asked to name the most rewarding part of her job. “Some have trouble outside of school, so it means a lot that they trust me enough to talk about things.

“Last week we took a few of them on a snow trip, just watching some of them smile when they saw snow for the first time was incredible; a great feeling. My job is, primarily, to provide support to the teacher, while I also do things like administer the medications to the kids who need them.”

When she applies her ‘fighter’s face’ Greentree speaks passionately about the dream of competing at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, as well as the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. She doesn’t hide that the thought of wearing Australia’s battle colours on the big stage drives her to take on all-comers.

Greentree’s Olympic dream was sparked when she watched her sister, Belinda, return from the 2008 Beijing Games with a bronze medal for softball. It was a magic moment for her family, but nine-year-old Emma-Sue – who has nine siblings – unintentionally became the centre of everyone’s attention when she was rushed to hospital not long after the medal ceremony.

“When Belinda came home, all the attention was on me because I was diagnosed with diabetes,” she said. “Mum was overseas at the Olympic Games, so I stayed at another older sister’s house watching the game on the television . . . and then ended up in hospital!”

Greentree was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a disease which requires lifelong insulin dependency and has a much higher risk of severe complications than Type 2 diabetes. One of her key messages for anyone with it is to not allow diabetes to stop them from following their dreams.

And Greentree, who won a world championships bronze medal two years ago, lives what she preaches. Before taking up boxing she represented the Hunter Region in schoolgirl rugby and was also an outstanding junior athlete who competed in heptathlon at a national level.

While Greentree gained an impressive collection of medals for her Track and Field performances, her athletic career ended because, she says, her opponents’ improvements outweighed her own.

“I had to try something else,” she says matter-of-factly.

She was introduced to pugilism by her father’s work colleague, Steve Mannix, who owned the Central Coast Boxing Club. It didn’t take long for Greentree to find her eye of the tiger amid the high-octane training environment.

“Was I a natural? Well, I think the competitiveness you need to box came naturally, along with the coordination,” said Greentree. “But I did have a background in sport, and I think it was the right fit for me.”

Emma-Sue Greentree and former NSWIS scholarship holder Kaye Scott display the precious metal they won for Australia at the 2023 World Boxing Championships in India

Greentree said while her diabetes hasn’t hindered her boxing career she admitted to needing to tread carefully when shredding weight before a tournament.

“I just have to make sure my blood sugars are always at a stable level,” she said, before talking about the boxers’ curse of cutting weight. “When I competed internationally [for the first time] it was at 81 kilos, but that wasn’t an Olympic weight.

“I’ve had to drop down to 75 kilos to try to get that. I’ve bounced between the two weights since I started, so it’s pretty normal for me now. However, with this new Olympic cycle and Commonwealth Games, I’ve needed to sit closer to 75 kilos.

“I’ve seen [some fighters undergo] a couple of gnarly weight cuts, so I never ever want to be a week out from competition and need to cut the weight. I just couldn’t imagine putting my body through what some people do.”

Greentree said one of the challenges she enjoys as a boxer is counteracting the variety of fighting styles she’s pitted against.

“It’s an art more than anything else, and I appreciate it,” she said of boxing. “There isn’t always video on everyone, but, then again, you can watch video on your next opponent, and they come out and box completely differently to what you’ve studied.

“I find you need to adapt within the first 30 seconds of a bout because you only have three rounds. In that 30 seconds I watch their feet, see how much they move around, where their hand placement is, any habits they have:  l watch to see if they’re going to throw a jab whether they drop their hand before they throw it? They’re the little things you look for.”

And Greentree, who regularly spars against males, enjoys making it hard for her opponents to find their rhythm.

“I like to be aggressive,” she said. “I’m strong. I like to overwhelm my opponent. I can box from off the back foot if needed, but I want to be pushing forward.

“I like my jab, it’s a good, stiff jab that stops them . . . kind of freezes them [from putting their punches together] . . . but my coach wants me to ensure I mix it up between the head and body and put my right hand behind it. I’m always learning, and there’s always things to add on.”

EMMA-SUE GREENTREE FAST FACTS

• Greentree obtained her driver’s license at 17 so she could drive to boxing training
• She had her first fight after only three months of training
• Greentree has had 44 bouts
• She is a two-time national boxing champion
• The 26-year-old has fought in the USA, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Poland, India, Bulgaria and Hungary
• Greentree’s ‘handle’ on Instagram in Type1boxer – a reference to her diabetes
• Having multiple world champion Claressa Shields reply to one of her social media stories left her feeling starstruck
• She tells supporters that diabetes is not something to be taken lightly, and she thanks her team – which includes NSWIS practitioners Krystal Sharp (physiotherapy) and Billy Macklin (S&C) for helping to manage it whilst being an elite athlete
• When Greentree attended a diabetes camp as a mentor it ‘broke my heart’ to hear children say they couldn’t play sport because of the disease
• She trains in the morning at 5am, works, and trains again at 5pm. She makes a point to get in as many steps as possible during a day, including a walk after dinner.
• Greentree credits boxing for giving her life structure, discipline, and excitement.
• Among her many athletics achievements was winning the NSW under-14 high jump title after a ‘jump off’