Midway through last year, Michaela Sokolich-Beatson could barely walk; running made her cry.
She’d just missed out on the Silver Ferns to play at the Netball World Cup in South Africa – after a remarkable comeback to the court from back-to-back Achilles ruptures – but there was something else going wrong with her body.
The 14-test Silver Fern then discovered she had crippling arthritis in her spine, which she talks about in a new season of Netball New Zealand’s Pure As series.
“Then my dad held my hand and said, ‘Do you think it’s time to retire?’” Sokolich-Beatson, now 27, says. “And I was like ‘No! I’m not letting this thing beat me. We’re going to figure out a way.’”
Injuries have always plagued the talented defender. In her early growing years, she had knee and Achilles issues. She suffered a stress fracture in her spine before leading the NZ U21 team to victory at the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana.
Just as she was about to stamp her mark on international netball, Sokolich-Beatson ruptured her right Achilles on tour with the Ferns in England in January 2020; nine months later she snapped her left Achilles at a New Zealand training camp.
But it wasn’t until well into her longer and more painful second rehabilitation, and she developed a pain in her chest, doctors discovered she had psoriatic arthritis. It’s an autoimmune condition where the immune system creates inflammation, leading to pain and swelling.
“It attacks joints, ligaments, tendons… and it’s the hardest thing to manage,” says Sokolich-Beatson, this year’s captain of the Mystics.
“I never know what’s coming next and as an athlete that’s the hardest thing.”
Sokolich-Beatson, who made her Silver Ferns debut in 2018, talks about wondering if she’d ever pull on the black dress again, when she struggled to find form after two years away from the court. And her pain watching the Mystics win their first ANZ Premiership in 2021, followed by redemption in 2023.
Netball NZ’s highly successful Pure As series returns for a fourth season in 2024, shining a light on the lives of several of netball’s personalities, both on and off the court.
All episodes will be launched with an exclusive first watch through www.silverfans.co.nz, and shown on LockerRoom each week.
