Michael Boxall

Michael Boxall

Personal information
Full name	Michael Joseph Boxall
Date of birth	18 August 1988 (1988-08-18) (age 23)
Place of birth	Auckland, New Zealand
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Number	2
Youth career
2006–2007	Central United
2007	Three Kings United
2007	Ellerslie
2007–2010	UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006–2007	Auckland City	4	(0)
2011–	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	19	(0)
2011	→ Whitecaps Residency (loan)	1	(0)
National team‡
2005–2007	New Zealand U20	14	(0)
2007–2008	New Zealand U23	12	(1)
2006	New Zealand A	2	(0)
2011–	New Zealand	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 June 2010

Michael Joseph Boxall (born 18 August 1988 in Auckland) is an New Zealander professional footballer who plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer.

Boxall played college soccer for NCAA Division I University of California, Santa Barbara men's soccer team.

Career

Early career in New Zealand

For high school, Boxall attended and played for Mount Albert Grammar School. With Boxall anchoring the defence, Mount Albert won the league title in 2004 and 2005 and placed first at the national tournament in 2005. In his senior season in 2006, Boxall was named the team captain. He led the team to a second Knockout Cup title in three years. They also went to the Auckland Secondary School Soccer Association Championship. Mt. Albert went on to finish second at nationals that year.

Boxall played for a number of teams in his native New Zealand. He played on multiple club teams including Central United, Ellerslie, and Auckland City. With Central United, Boxall led the team to the 2007 Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier title. In addition, Boxall won the NZFC with Auckland City. He was named the Auckland City Young Player of the Year with Central United in 2006 and then again with Auckland City F.C. in 2007.

US College

Boxall was recruited to play college soccer at the University of California, Santa Barbara by head coach Tim Vom Steeg. He followed in the New Zealand tradition at Santa Barbara, following former players Tony Lochhead and Neil Jones, both of whom have received senior international caps after appearing for UCSB. In his first season with the Gauchos, Boxall played in 12 games, starting 10 of them. He scored no points and only had one shot on goal, but proved himself to be a solid defensive rock alongside Gaucho defensive stalwart Andy Iro. Boxall's season was cut short due to a knee injury which forced him to miss the rest of the year. Despite missing half the season, Boxall led all rookies with 10 starts and tied for the team high in both yellow cards and red cards, 6 and 1 respectively.

Professional

Boxall was selected first overall in the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft by Vancouver Whitecaps FC. He agreed to terms with the club on 17 March 2011,^[1] and made his professional debut on 19 March, in Vancouver's 2011 MLS opener against Toronto FC.^[2]

International

Boxall has represented New Zealand at various international levels. His début with the national set up was with the Junior All-Whites (U-20's) in which he made 14 appearances with no goals.^[3] During this time, he appeared in the 2007 U-20 World Cup OFC qualifying tournament and ultimately the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He played in all three U-20 World Cup games before New Zealand were knocked out.

Boxall has also represented the New Zealand U-23 Olympic team, known as the Oly-Whites. He played in all 5 2008 OFC Olympic Qualifiers which saw New Zealand advance to their first ever Olympic Games. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Boxall again appeared in all three of New Zealand's games before they were eliminated.^[4] In addition to these 8 games, he played four Olympic warm-up matches against Central Coast Mariners, Persikota Tangerang, Indonesia (senior squad), and Persija Jakarta between the Qualifying Tournament and the Beijing Olympic Tournament.

Boxall has made 2 appearances for New Zealand A at the Agribank Cup in Vietnam during October 2006, appearing against Thailand^[5] and Bahrain.^[6] Both games were held at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Only days after making his Whitecaps debut, Boxall was called up to the All Whites' squad for their match against China on 25 March 2011,^[7] where he made his début as a second half substitute.^[8]

Honours

Club

• Northern Premier League Champions- 2007^[9]
• New Zealand Football Championship Champions - 2007^[9]

Individual

• ACFC Young Player of the Year - 2006 and 2007 ^[10]
• All Big West Honorable Mention-2008^[9]
• All Big West First Team-2009^[9]
• NSCAA Third Team All-American - 2010^[11]
• College Soccer News Third Team All-America-2010^[11]
• All-Far West Region First Team - 2010^[11]
• Big West Defender of the Year - 2010^[11]

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

1. ^ http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2011/03/whitecaps-fc-sign-four-more-players-mls-side
2. ^ Hassli, Whitecaps pummel TFC in dynamite debut
3. ^ Michael Boxall U-20 Player Profile at NZfootball
4. ^ "Olympic Football Squads Named". New Zealand Olympic Committee. 4 July 2008. http://www.olympic.org.nz/Article.aspx?Mode=1&ID=6019. Retrieved 2008-07-04. 
5. ^ Thailand 1 New Zealand A 0 From http://www.nzsoccer.com, Posted 28 October 2006.
6. ^ Bahrain Victory Positive Sign For Future - Jacobs From http://www.nzsoccer.com, Posted 30 October 2006.
7. ^ http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/march-fifa-dates-lead-mls-roster-diaspora
8. ^ Martin, Sean (26 March 2011). "All Whites draw with China in friendly". The Sunday Star-Times. NZPA. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/sport/latest-sport/4812491/All-Whites-draw-with-China. Retrieved 24 October 2011. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d} UC Santa Barbara player profile; Michael Boxall
10. ^ Auckland City football Club; Award Winners
11. ^ ^{a b c d} MLS Player profiles; Michael Boxall

External links

• MLS player profile
• Michael Boxall – FIFA competition record
• Michael Boxall at National-Football-Teams.com
• UC Santa Barbara profile
• NBC Olympics profile
• Whitecaps profile

Persondata
Name	Boxall, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 August 1988
Place of birth	Auckland, New Zealand
Date of death
Place of death