By Brendon Egan

Stuff

15 Apr, 2023

For the first time in three years, Michaela Sokolich-Beatson’s mind and body finally feel connected on the court.

Few elite sports people in New Zealand have had a more luckless run with injury in recent times than the 11-test Silver Fern.

The talented defender suffered two ruptured Achilles tendons within the space of nine months to different legs – sidelining her for two straight seasons in 2020 and 2021.

It was a cruel blow for Sokolich-Beatson, who was starting to establish herself in the Silver Ferns’ squad as one of the country’s premier wing defences.

The 26-year-old returned to the court last season for the Northern Mystics, playing 16 games and 801 minutes, getting through the campaign unscathed.

Coming back from such a long layoff, it was always going to take time for Sokolich-Beatson to regain top form and confidence on court. Always brutally honest, she said her return was a starting point, but she didn’t play as consistently as she wanted.

Fast-forward to 2023 and Sokolich-Beatson has taken her play to another level with the table-topping Mystics to start the season.

She has started at wing defence in every game and is producing the kind of performances so regularly seen from her before her horrible injury ordeal.

“I just feel like I can think when I’m out there playing about the game, rather than I’m sore, or I’m hurting, or I need to push through it.

“I just feel my mind and body are a bit more connected, which is nice.”

Despite getting in a full pre-season with the Mystics before last season, Sokolich-Beatson said the 2022 campaign was tough on her body.

She couldn’t warm up her Achilles before games for most of last year and often experienced Achilles pain during matches – lingering effects from her recovery.

Her second ruptured Achilles tendon, sustained at a New Zealand A training session in October 2020, involved an arduous recovery process. Even though she knew what to expect, it was far more complicated than her first injury.

“The second one was a lot longer recovery, a lot more pain and everything about it was just hard. I don’t know if it was because I’d literally just finished doing it and it was the second time, but it was a gruelling, long, slow process.”

Sokolich-Beatson wasn’t selected in the Silver Ferns’ 2022-23 national squad or development squad late last year, but was far from bitter about her omission.

It is more than four years since she last took the court for New Zealand in the first Constellation Cup test against Australia in October 2018. She was in the Ferns’ squad for the same series a year later, but didn’t get on court.

“To be a Silver Fern you need to be on top of your game. You need to be playing week in and week out consistently and I can say last year I didn’t do that. The people that did that, got the spots in the squad, as they should.

“I felt like with where I was at physically I did what I could do.”

Sokolich-Beatson is in a better place this season and has turned in some impressive showings for the Mystics. She was one of the best players on court in their last-gasp 62-61 win over the Magic in Rotorua on Sunday with goal shoot Grace Nweke landing a penalty shot as time expired.

The Mystics have won six of their seven games and hold a four point lead over the second placed Tactix at the top of the premiership table.

Last season ended on a sour note for the Mystics, who led the competition for most of round play. An ankle injury to Nweke late in their campaign derailed their title hopes, losing four straight games.

They stuttered into the elimination final against the crosstown Stars with Nweke returning, but lost 63-57.

That painful loss could have eaten away at the side all off-season, but Sokolich-Beatson said it wasn’t something they had dwelled on.

“To be honest, I don’t even think we’ve talked about that once. It’s a new year, the other teams are different, different circumstances happen.

“We know we should have done better and we kind of ruined it for ourselves, but we’re just focusing on this year and trying to take every single game like it’s the last game of the season because if you try to look too far ahead you can get caught up.”