15-YEAR-OLD FOOTBALL PRODIGY’S STUNNING NPL START
SO good is Kira RichardsBassett that Gold Coast United NPLW coach Alex Bundalo has to remind himself she’s still only 15.
The prodigious talent from Broadbeach announced herself to the world with a brace in United’s 8-1 win over The Gap last weekend.
Deployed predominantly as a left-back in her debut NPLW season, RichardsBassett was given licence to roam by Bundalo when he started her on the wing.
“At senior level the pressure is continuous every single game. When you’re a 15-year-old against older, more experienced players attacking you all the time it’s not an ideal situation,” Bundalo said.
“With the talent she has and ability on the ball, I pushed her forward to give her some experience of playing up front and running at players and expressing her talent.
“She had gotten experience at fullback and done a marvellous job – it was time to get her up front and let her enjoy attacking for a while.”
The result was perhaps the goal of the season from the 15year-old – a scything run from inside her own half, beating multiple defenders before walking it over the line to the awe of all on the pitch.
“When you see the way she runs, with her head up at that speed with the ball under control is very hard to find,” Bundalo said.
“I haven’t seen potential like that in a long, long time.”
And the United coach promised much of the same from the pacy playmaker.
“That’s more of what you’re going to see,” Bundalo said.
“In a pre-season game, she picked the ball up from our goalkeeper and ran the full length of the field – beating three or four players – and was stopped with a last-minute tackle in the six-yard box. That would have been goal of the decade if she had scored.”