[2][3] Laura van der Heijden started playing handball at the age of six, first at LHV Leusden in The Netherlands.

In season 2010/11, the 1.73 meter tall Right Back (left-handed) player played in the German Bundesliga for VfL Oldenburg, with whom she won the DHB Cup in 2012.

In the summer of 2020 she signed for the Hungarian first division club Siófok KC, but already at the end of October the same year, her contract was terminated by mutual agreement.

[10] Van der Heijden has played 263 international matches for the Dutch national team, scoring 810 goals.

At the 2019 World Championship in Japan she won gold medals with the Dutch team, beating Spain in the final 30:29[3][15]