Laura van der Heijden was one of the key players in the medal generation of Netherlands. In a social media post, the 35-year-old declares her time playing at elite level is approaching the end.
”I will be able to call myself a top athlete for just over a month. After that, I will retire from handball”, she writes on her Instagram account.
Van der Heijden plays the final part of 2024/25 for Chambray Touraine in France. The top sport life brought the right back to three other countries (Team Esbjerg in Denmark, Ferencvaros plus Siofok in Hungary and SG BBM Bietigheim plus Borussia Dortmund in Germany) outside of her native Netherlands.
It’s hard to match Van der Heijdens efforts in the orange jersey, 297 caps and nearly 900 goals over 17 years. The definite moment of glory was the triumph in the World Cup 2019.
”As a little girl, I never thought that I could turn my hobby into my profession and certainly not that I was allowed to play in different countries for 15 years. Without the support of family and friends, this adventure would not have been nearly as beautiful”, she continues.