Bella Richards taking running and football achievements in her stride

She’s just won the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships and next week she’s trialling for the New Zealand U20 Women’s Football squad.

But St Kentigern College Year 13 football player and runner Bella Richards is taking it all in her stride.

She explained how she took out the Senior Girls cross country race last week in Dunedin. 

“I don’t tend to look back when I’m running, that’s actually quite a bad habit so perhaps I should,” she said. “We took off fast and there was a group of about five of us in the lead. On the back of the course there was a hill so I put some more effort in running up that and suddenly I was on my own and I just kept going to the finish.”

She won after finishing third last year with a “really bad tummy bug”, beating Wellington’s Kelsey Foreman into second and her good friend from St Kent’s, Grace Wood ,into third. Bella, Grace and Anna Wilkinson won the Senior Girls National three-person team title.

Bella is also an accomplished football player, a centre midfielder, having already represented New Zealand at age grade level “Last year I made the U17 squad and we went to the World Cup in Costa Rica. That was a really awesome and a great experience in such a professional environment.”

What does she prefer?

“I really enjoy football because it’s a team sport and I like the camaraderie of that. I do also like the individuality of running, but really football is my preference and I only really train for that as there is lots of running and fitness in football. I’d only get injured if I did running!”

“At the moment I’m focusing on that because we’ve got our U20 camp next week in Papakura. There are 40 girls involved so it should be really challenging.”

The U20 Women’s World Cup is in October next year in Papua New Guinea is the goal.

“I’ll be at the younger end of the triallists, but if I give it my best shot hopefully I’ll make it through.”

She also captains her school First XI, who are coming second to Mount Albert Grammar School in the Auckland Secondary Schools girls’ competition. In their annual school exchange last week, the defending national champion MAGS side beat them 3-1.

There is a clash of codes at the end of August, where she’ll have to choose to between representing New Zealand at the Australian cross country championships in Melbourne and leading her school to the national secondary school football championships in Taupo. After choosing the round ball over running last year, she’s yet to make up her mind on this one.

What about in the summer, does she get to slow down?

At the end of last year she was in the New Zealand Development side that were beaten finalists in the ASB Women’s League, losing in the final to the Mainland Pride.

“I also do athletics; I do the 1500m and 3000m, but at the end of this year I might do the [NZSS] road running championships in Timaru.”

Sporting success also runs in the family. “My dad [Ian Richards] won a gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. He, Graeme Miller, Brian Fowler and Gavin Stevens won the first [in the road team time trial] gold medal of those Commonwealth Games.”

Have you taken up cycling? “I tried cycling last summer and it was fun, but doing three sports really competitively would mean I would have to compromise something!”

What about next year? “Next year I am going to give it my best shot in making the New Zealand U20 football squad. Then in 2017, hopefully head to the United States on a football scholarship.”

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