Annie and Lifecare

Annie found her calling at Claremont Football Club

Annie always knew she wanted to help people. She just wasn't sure how, until she finished high school.

“I'm very much a go go go person,” she says. “I love hands on, I love being challenged.”

Annie grew up a Claremont Tigers supporter, coming down to watch the Western Australia Football League (WAFL) games as a young kid.

The club has always felt like home to her, and she loves the sense of family and community around it.

Now she's back at the club in a very different role.

Lifecare, part of APM Group, has an agreement with Claremont Football Club to provide the physios and sports trainer team.

As head trainer of the football club, Annie runs their sports training team, working closely with the Lifecare team.

“It's a full circle moment that I get to be here and work on the sidelines and be behind the scenes,” she says.

Annie and Anthony Senior discuss player care and injury management at Claremont Football Club. Lifecare physiotherapists work alongside sports trainers to support player recovery, rehabilitation and performance.

Annie during training at Claremont Football Club, where she works as Head Trainer with support from the Lifecare physiotherapy team. Her story highlights career development, sports injury management and athlete wellbeing.

Her path there started somewhere else entirely.

While competitively dancing, Annie was a patient of Anthony, known as “Macca”, Senior who is a Senior Musculo-Skeletal Physiotherapist at the club and Practice Principal at Lifecare Claremont.

He was treating her for a knee injury when she mentioned she was studying to become a physio herself.

“Annie was a patient of mine,” Anthony remembers.

“She was mentioning she was a physio student, and then the chance for her to be head trainer at the footy club came up. It was a sort of breath of fresh air.”

Annie thought the offer seemed too good to be true.

“I took the job and yeah, two and a half years later, here I am and I love it,” she says. “Wouldn't change it for the world.”

Anthony says Annie has grown into the role.

“She's remarkably eager and remarkably keen to do things,” he says. “It's worked as a chance for her to grow in her professional position, but also to help us with our management of players.”

Annie standing indoors with a football during a Claremont Football Club training session.

Annie carries out a physiotherapy assessment as part of her work with athletes. The image demonstrates hands-on treatment, injury assessment and sports rehabilitation delivered through Lifecare's physiotherapy services.

A typical day starts with strapping and taping players and handling any injury management they need.

During training, Annie is fully involved, supervising rehab and ready to respond if Injury occurs. Afterwards, there's Injury Management, treatment and recovery support for anyone who needs it.

“I love that people present with different injuries,” Annie says. “I have to work out what works for them, what the diagnosis is.”

She's grateful for the time Anthony has put into teaching her, from the basics of strapping an ankle through to talking through injury management in depth.

Anthony says the club has built an environment centred on access and support.

“The ability to come in and look at things, the ability to see patients, the ability to actively have an opinion on what happens,” he says. “I think we have an environment where we're supportive of the people around us.”

Annie agrees the opportunity has shaped her career.

“Without the job at Claremont Footy Club, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to go further, to meet people in the elite sport community,” she says.

What keeps her going is simple.

“Seeing them run out with a smile on their face is just so rewarding,” she says. “It brings nothing but joy.”