Michael Boxall

Classroom

Michael Boxall is on track to graduate in business and economics. He made the Dean’s List in spring 2009.

Character

Boxall leads by example as he captains a team that features players from seven different nationalities. “He is a quiet leader, who usually lets his own play dictate to everyone the way the game should be played,” coach Tim Vom Steeg said. “He has the respect of his teammates.”

Community

Boxall has worked as a volunteer at the UCSB Soccer Summer Camps the past three summers. He has also participated in the Little Gauchos program, in which UCSB players fill in as guest coaches for local youth soccer teams. In 2006 he joined a group of fellow New Zealand players and helped run a clinic for under-privileged children in Ha Noi, Vietnam.

Competition

In 2009 Boxall made the All-Big West first team after helping UCSB set school records for consecutive shutouts (six) and single-season shutouts (16) while also setting a Gauchos record with 2,185 minutes played. “He is a very, very tough defender and very competitive,” Vom Steeg said. “I think he will continue to develop as a player and a person.” In his time at UCSB, the Gauchos have won two conference regular-season titles. Boxall has also represented his native country as a member of the New Zealand Olympic team. He started two matches at the Beijing Olympics.