East London Phoenix’s Level Up as Mariska Beijer Joins Squad

With two World Championship gold medals and a Paralympic gold – Mariska Beijer is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world. Beijer joins the East London phoenix squad for the Womens premier League 2023/2024 season that started earlier this month.

Originally from the Netherlands, Beijer has had outstanding success at the international level – however lacked a high level of competition outside of the international schedule. The women’s premier League is going into its third season and provides the chance for players to frequently compete with some of the best in the world.

In the recent Wheelchair Basketball World Championships held in Doha, Netherlands took the win and Beijer was the top scorer in the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and the final.

East London phoenix have played two games so far this season, winning against Cardiff Met Archers and Worcester Wolves. Their next game however, will be against two-time, reigning champions – Loughborough Lightning. This will also see Beijer play against her Netherlands teammate Bo Kramer, who joined Loughborough Lightning last season.

Beijer joining the East London team, seriously threatens Loughborough Lightnings winning streak – where so far they have only lost one game in two seasons. It will also be interesting to see how Kramer and Beijer play against one another and what impact this will have on the outcome of the games.

However, Lightning are excited for Beijer to join the league as it will help them all develop as players and further prepare them for the international stage. George Bates (Loughborough Lightning Head Coach) stated:

“Mariska coming to the league is exactly what we want at Lightning. I am really excited to see her playing in the league. We have what it takes to become champions for the third year in a row, but we are going to need to be at our best throughout the year!”

Could Beijer shake up the league table and help to bring the trophy to East London this year? With the season only just beginning it is all to play for.

All games are available to watch live on British Wheelchair Basketballs’ YouTube.