From Newcastle to Tamworth, Michelle Clausen found a home at North Companions

She set foot in Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School at the start of 2017 as a new arrival to the science department, having never lived anywhere but Newcastle previously.

"I didn't know anyone when I was first placed at Farrer," Clausen said.

"Luckily the community at Farrer really supported me."

It was through her new colleagues that Clausen found the soccer club that would become her surrogate family over the next six years: North Companions.

"A couple of the girls from Farrer played for Northies," she said.

"Pretty much the first question they had when I got there was 'Do you play any sport?' And I said 'Yeah, soccer.'"

Thus began Clausen's journey with the club, during which time she has collected three premierships, including one on Saturday to cap off her first season as captain.

As she had no prior captaincy experience within the club, Clausen drew on her teaching instincts to guide her.

"It's like being a teacher," she said.

"You know you need to step up sometimes and support the girls, so that's what I've done with the club."

Unlike many standout footballers, Clausen began playing relatively late in life. She was 15 when a group of her friends at high school decided to pull a team together to take part in a friendly competition.

She continued playing throughout her time at Newcastle University, and is thankful she did as it led her to find "one of the best clubs" after graduating and landing in Tamworth.

"I love [Northies], we're always really supportive," she said.

"We're known to be one of the more friendly clubs in Tamworth, which I think we all take pride in, it's something that we love about it. Everyone's very helpful and supportive and friendly, which is great."

Having won premierships in 2018 and 2019, the North Companions Black women's side were robbed of their chances to claim the three-peat for the last two years running due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

This, the 28-year-old said, made finally reaching that achievement on Saturday feel "pretty amazing".

Several Northies players announced their intent to retire after Saturday's grand final, which gave the team extra incentive to come away with the win.

"That made a difference, it made us put a lot of heart into it," Clausen said.

"[The premiership] means a lot to us."

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