They say an elite sporting career is a short one - Northern Mystics netballer Michaela Sokolich-Beatson knows that only too well.
Because just like that, the 25-year-old lost two of those precious years to injury.
Michaela Sokolich-Beatson. Photo: Photosport
The former Silver Fern has worked her way back from two achilles injuries.
Her last official match was way back in December 2019 - playing for the Mystics in the final of the Super Club tournament in Nelson.
In January 2020, Sokolich-Beatson was ruled out of the Netball Nations Cup in London when she ruptured her right achilles during a training match.
Then in October that year after being given the all-clear she unbelievably ruptured her left achilles at a NZA training session prior to the Cadbury series.
Last week, after a very lengthy second rehabilitation, Sokolich-Beatson got on court for the Mystics during a practice game against the Magic.
"I felt good, like I felt fine it was just weird, it's been a really long time and it's just hard to put into words but yeah just mainly happy to be out there.
"It feels like I never left but at the same time it's been ages but yeah I'm just really enjoying it," Sokolich-Beatson said.
Rehabilitation the second time around was a much harder journey for the fleet-footed defender.
"The first rupture was really straight forward. If someone laid out a roadmap on how it should go that's kind of how it went for me like I felt like I just kind of ticked some boxes and moved forward.
"But with the second one, it took nearly double the amount of time and lots of pain and it just felt like I wasn't progressing like I did in the first one so yeah I would say that they were completely different.
"And with the first one I had a pretty positive attitude the whole way through but then with the second one it was like ground hog day mentally, like every day."
When Sokolich-Beatson heard a sickening noise and grabbed her left calf during the NZA training session, the implications of what it meant hit her and her team-mates straight away.
"One of my best friends Kate [Burley] was right there - she started crying straight away ...and she was my roomie too so she had to deal with me for the rest of the night.
"Some of the girls who were there for the first one, were there for the second one as well. For the people around me, I can understand how that would not be nice for them to watch."
Michaela Sokolich-Beatson playing for the Silver Ferns in 2018. Photo: © Photosport Ltd 2018 www.photosport.nz
The devastation for Sokolich-Beatson was felt far and wide in the netball fraternity.
People reached out with words of comfort; there were words of advice from those who had been through a major injury.
"But there's nothing you can really say to somebody, because the journey is just so different for everybody ...so it's really hard to give advice.
"I reckon the best thing that my team-mates did for me was they were there when I needed their help."
Sokolich-Beatson said while she hadn't been able to play the game for two years, the regime she had been on had been all-consuming.
"Anyone who's done a major rehab before understands that it's like a full time commitment, especially when you want to come back to the elite level.
"I put in more hours every day during rehab than I do now as a fully fit athlete."
The part-time high school teacher has been an active member of the Mystics bench for the past two seasons. She's acted as manager, assistant coach, filling in wherever she was needed.
She's now swapped the lonely journey of rehab for team-mates and is still building back into game play.
By the time the ANZ Premiership season starts next month, she expects to be ready for full games for the defending champions.
Michaela Sokolich-Beatson in the black dress. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Sokolich-Beatson first joined the Mystics in 2016 as a 19-year-old. The following year she captained the NZU21 team to the Netball World Youth Cup title, then made her Silver Ferns' debut in 2018.
The 11-Test Silver Fern was on track for a big 2020 after missing out on the 2019 Netball World Cup by the slimmest of margins.
And after being robbed of two years of being in her happy place, her approach is to get every last ounce she can from playing and training.
"I definitely look at it like that. I already knew how lucky I was to be doing this for a job, but getting injured I just want to be out there every second.
"When the girls are like 'oh we've got to do the yoyo' I'm like 'no we get to do the yoyo, like this is our job' and so I definitely have a different mindset now and I just want to keep doing this for as long as I can."
Sokolich-Beatson did some work with Silver Ferns' psychologist Rod Corban to alleviate some fears as she prepared herself mentally to get back to court.
One of the trademarks of her game is a fearless determination to hunt the ball and she doesn't want to let anxiety get in the way of that.
"I've put in a lot of work to get to the point where I'm like 'no I'm okay, I'm not going to hurt myself'.
"Yes, the thought does creep into my head but I remember Rod said to me 'how many netball trainings have you done in your life?'
"And I was like 'thousands' and he said 'and how many times have you ruptured your achilles?'
"And I was like 'twice' so yeah my odds are good, I just look at it like that."
The GD/WD will join a formidable defensive end at the Mystics, led by Silver Fern Sulu Fitzpatrick. Silver Fern returnee Phoenix Karaka is back after having a baby last year.
The Mystics start their season against the Magic on the 13th March in Hamilton.
