HOW DID a Malaysian-raised, German-speaking girl with little interest in sport end up playing footy at the highest level?

A growth spurt, a small school, COVID borders shutting, and an Australian father all had their say.

But it is an example of the butterfly effect in action, leading Fiedler from a Malaysian upbringing, with a German mum and Australian dad, to rucking for St Kilda in the AFLW.

"A single thing could have changed everything, how crazy is that?" Fiedler told AFL.com.au.

"I'm a very strong believer in the butterfly effect, and how things can shape certain outcomes. And I feel like everything in my life, especially when it comes to where I am today, has been shaped purely by small decisions. It blows my mind."

Speaking to Fiedler, there is a hint of an accent, but it is one that is hard to place. For dad David's sake, they grew up speaking English, but all went to a German-speaking international school in Malaysia, so they were bilingual from a young age.

Most classmates were of German-Malaysian, or Indonesian-German heritage. Fiedler and her siblings were relatively unique in their half-Australian background.

It made for a rare education experience.

"It was so, so different from what you expect an Australian school to be like. We had 250 kids from year one to year 12, everyone was in the same school building. I knew everyone and their dog… it was kind of like a small, close-knit family," Fiedler explained.

"You didn't really have the classic experience of 'Oh, I don't know these people, or this clique, and I don't really fit in'. It was just 16 people in our year, and you had to get along, and it actually worked out in our favour because my sisters and I, we're very good 'people people' because we just had to adapt to certain situations. You just have to be outgoing and accepting of everyone."

Although it took Fiedler some time to dip her toe into the world of sport, such limited numbers at the school meant everyone became an all-rounder, just to ensure they could field a team.

"I don't think I grew up very athletic, we were not very interested until I got tall enough to use it to my advantage… I got good at high jump and shot put, and I was okay at running, so that piqued my interest (in sport)," Fiedler said.

"Trying to get a team together when it came to women's volleyball, we had maybe six to 10 people that could join, so you just had to adapt. And so, it was more training and practice than anything else. But slowly I think I just got better and better and more interested in different sports where I could use my height and my athleticism.

"There's not a single sport I don’t think I've tried. I've tried everything from Gaelic football to synchronised swimming to volleyball."

Naturally, with a minimal footy scene in Malaysia, the code only entered Fiedler's zeitgeist through her dad.

Mum Sandra was from East Germany and wanted to see the world after earning her degree in physiotherapy. David was a Perth native who got an architecture degree and decided to do the same. Both just happened to end up in Malaysia.

"It was really just a coincidence," Fiedler said.

They met, made a home there, and had four daughters. Emmelie is third in line, following older sisters Zoe and Samantha, and younger sister Gemma.

Along the way, David connected to an ex-pat group that formed a footy squad called the Malaysian Warriors. It was as much a footy team as it was a social group, and when the AFLW came to life in 2017, the Warriors were watching.

"They were starting a women's team because the AFLW was taking off, and all the wives and partners of the boys who were training there were like 'Oh, we'd love to start a team'. So, Dad kind of roped us girls into it as well, being like, this is part of your heritage, this is part of your culture,'" Fiedler said.

"But we were honestly very, very beginner."

Fielder and oldest sister Zoe were automatically cast into ruck roles thanks to their height, so spent plenty of time facing off in intra-clubs as the program built, and women's footy took shape in Asia.

She was only 16 at the time and enjoyed the confidence that playing amongst older women offered.

"I was one of the youngest in the group, so it was kind of like having a whole bunch of mums and caretakers, because they wanted you to progress. So, it was very encouraging to have them come up to you after training and go 'You're progressing so well'… That helped me, in my little young mind, want to stick with footy because it was so encouraging," Fiedler said.

By 2019 they were travelling to Thailand to compete in the AFL Asian Championships, in which Fiedler and her team took out the Expat Women's division.

But then COVID hit, and everything had to change. Borders were closing and lockdowns were happening, so the Fiedler family decided to move to Australia for the time being. There was every intention to return to Malaysia once things calmed down, but it ultimately proved to be a permanent move.

Footy offered a comfortable touch point in an otherwise uprooted life. Fiedler had never lived in Australia before, instead only visited her grandparents for Christmas each year, and culturally the countries are very different.

"It was very abrupt, and now looking back at it, I understand why I took to footy so much because it was the only thing that made sense in my mind," Fiedler said.

Zoe and Samantha were already based in Perth, having moved to study, and were embedded in Curtin University's footy scene. It only made sense for Fiedler to join them.

"It was honestly the best decision ever, because to this day, it's still one of the best group of people I've met. It was so easy to be Zoe and Sam's sister," Fiedler said.

"I played with them and trained with them, so getting to and from trainings and going to games on the weekend, it was just a little bit easier because it was with them. It was really fun. My parents encouraged all of use to go out and do it, so for them to come to our games was so much more rewarding because we were all in one group… They would come to one oval and watch us for the Saturday, and then we would go out for lunch together afterwards."

It was also a chance to culturally understand Australia. Having grown up in a predominantly Muslim country, Perth felt like a whole different world.

Specifically, footy provided education around First Nations people, something Fiedler was wholly unaware of prior to moving in 2020.

"I never knew about the First Nations culture here, and WA of all places, where it's so prominent, it was such an eye-opening thing to know Australia in a different light. And obviously with footy, it's so involved in the First Nations culture and acknowledging real traditions," Fiedler said.

Things moved pretty quickly for Fiedler after that. Playing at Curtin, she was encouraged to head to a WAFLW try-out day. She was apprehensive, after all, she was only just finding her feet in this new life, but her belief in the butterfly effect remained strong.

So, she went.

"Within I think 15 months, I had gone from the reserves team in the WAFLW, to the league team, to being signed to the Fremantle Dockers, which was the most bizarre thing ever," Fiedler said.

A year at the Dockers didn't produce an AFLW debut, but it showed St Kilda enough that when a list spot opened up in early 2024, Fiedler was their choice.

"I still sit here every now and then and talk to my family and my partner about it. We’re always like 'Imagine if I had said no to WAFLW, if I hadn't gone to this try-out day, or medical check at Fremantle?' Imagine if I had been like 'Nope, sorry, I can't make it'," Fiedler said.

"I wouldn't be here right now."