Five years since her last appearance for the Silver Ferns — which included two Achilles injuries in the space of nine months — the defender finally had the chance to slip on the black dress again at the Nations Cup in January.
It was a moment that was not lost on the new Mystics captain — who will be in action at the Southern Showdown in Dunedin this morning — and made the sacrifices worth it.
"It was unreal. It was one of those experience that . . . might not ever happy again for me — that could be it," Sokolich-Beatson said.
"But to know that I was able to play again after everything I’ve been through... it just made all that hard work worth it.
"That I just didn’t slog away not to achieve my goals and to know that I achieved my goal is priceless."
Sokolich-Beatson said she had been a leader among the group for a long time, but she was "consciously" making an effort to balance her style now that she had the title.
"It’s feels the same, but it feels different," she said.
"I’ve always been able to be me, kind of yell, say what I want, but there’s always someone above me that can have the final say.
"Whereas now, I still yell, and say what I want, but I also have to have the final say.
"So I guess [it is a matter of] finding the balance of not talking too much, so the girls don’t just hear me, but then also stating true to who I am as well."
The Mystics have had a disjointed preseason with four players away on Ferns duty early on.
But they had hitouts against neighbours the Northern Stars and the Melbourne Vixens and were starting to gel together.
However, this weekend would be the ultimate test at the Southern Showdown to see how they were actually tracking, she said.
She was looking forward to seeing how the Steel were looking with the return of Shannon Saunders and Jen O’Connell, and the Central Pulse, who they beat 57-48 last night.
They play the Steel at 10am today.
