User:Mosmof/Sandbox
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Shannon Boxx (born on June 29, 1977 in Fontana, California) is currently considered one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and plays for the United States women's national soccer team. She was a four sport athlete in high school playing soccer, volleyball, softball, and basketball at South Torrence High School[12]. She attended the University of Notre Dame and graduated with degrees in clinical psychology and African-American studies along with playing on their 1995 NCAA championship team (along with future national team member Kate Sobrero)[2]. Boxx plans on returning in the future for her master’s degree in clinical psychology[9]. She was a member of the USA national team that won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics[12]. She is the first U.S. player to have scored a goal in each of her first three international games[9]. The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) named her as the third-best player in the world for 2005[2]. She currently lives in Redondo Beach, California with her fiancé Sean Tanaka, which is close to the United States women's national soccer team facilities[12]. Daughter of Julie Boxx, a single mother, and sister of former Olympic Softball star Gillian Boxx[12]. Her favorite food is her mom’s homemade chili, but enjoys banana pancakes for breakfast on game days[12].
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[edit] Personal life
Shannon Boxx also known as “Boxxy” was born in Fontana, California in 1977 and lived with her older sister[12], Gillian and her mother after her parents divorced when she was young[12]. Boxx is the youngest of two and her sister Gillian is a former Gold Medalist in the 1996 Summer Olympics in softball and is now an active firefighter in California[2]. She was involved with soccer at an early age playing in club soccer for her high school[2]. In 1995 Boxx was awarded the Ocean League Scholar Athlete and was the female athlete of the year for South Torrance High School[2]. “Some of her other achievements include being a three-time all pioneer choice in softball and soccer, she was a 1995 California Interscholastic Federation Scholar Athlete of the Year finalist, and she received a California Legislature Assembly Certificate of Recognition for exceptional academic and athletic performance[1].” She also excelled in the classroom maintaining honor status for three years in both high school and during her time at the University of Notre Dame[2]. Boxx was also named a Parade High School All American in 1995 and a member of both the region IV and the Southern California Olympic Development Program[2]. She currently resides in Redondo Beach, California with her fiance Sean Tanaka [6]. Her favorite athlete outside of soccer is Michael Jordan[12].
[edit] Education and College Career
Boxx played for the University of Notre Dame in the seasons of 1995 through 1998[2]. While playing for the Irish the University of Notre Dame was ranked as a the number two seed behind the University of North Carolina for all four years that Boxx was a participant of the team[7]. She was a part of the 1995 NCAA title team[2]. She also played in the dominant 1997 season in which the Irish were on a track to meet the University of North Carolina in the finals but lost to the University of Connecticut 2-1 in the semi-finals[7]. During this season Boxx scored her highest recorded goals holding at 13 for the year[2]. Boxx is tied for the most soccer games played for the Irish at 101 games[2].
| College | GP/GS | Goals | Assists | Total Points | Win-Loss-Tie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame 1995 | 25/21 | 7 | 10 | 24 | 21-2-2 |
| Notre Dame 1996 | 26/25 | 12 | 16 | 40 | 24-2-0 |
| Notre Dame 1997 | 25/25 | 13 | 17 | 43 | 23-1-1 |
| Notre Dame 1998 | 25/25 | 7 | 14 | 28 | 21-3-1 |
[edit] WUSA career
After college Boxx played for the W-League’s Boston Renegades in 1999[2]. She then moved on to play for Saarbrucken of the women’s Bundelsiga in Germany from 1999 to 2000[2]. The Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) began in 2001[9] and Boxx began her career in the WUSA in 2001 for the San Diego Spirit[2]. It was at this time that Boxx began to hone her skills against the top women competing in the United States[9]. In her first season, Boxx only missed 20 minutes of the entire season with the Spirits and scored three goals[6]. This averages to missing less than one minute per game for the entire season[6]. Boxx was mainly used as a defensive midfielder on the San Diego Spirits[9]. In 2002 she once again played for the Spirit, however, this season she did not excel in the league. Starting only 15 of 20 games she only scored two goals and had a mediocre season[6].
The next year in 2003, Boxx was traded to the New York Power in the largest trade deal in WUSA history. After undergoing significant conditioning for the upcoming season through her friend and trainer, Craig Bennett, Boxx was prepared to start a new season[9]. In her season for the Power, Boxx was utilized for more of her offensive abilities as a midfielder and in this environment she began to thrive[6]. Boxx started all 21 games and was named to the All-WUSA First Team and the Most Valuable Player for the New York Power in 2003[2].
| WUSA | GP/GS | MIN | Goals | Assists | Total Points | Win-Loss-Tie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Spirit 2001 | 21/21 | 1870 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 7-7-7 |
| San Diego Spirit 2002 | 20/15 | 1349 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5-11-5 |
| New York Power 2003 | 21/21 | 1868 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 7-9-5 |
[edit] Career on the United States Women’s National Soccer Team
Shannon Boxx was a member of the U.S. Under-21 National Team pool in both 1995 and 1996[14]. Boxx became an unexpected member of the United States women’s national soccer team in August of 2003. U.S. women’s coach April Heinrichs requested her to attend the final training camp in August before the roster for the World Cup team was posted[5]. Even with this invitation Boxx even said herself how few expectations she had for this opportunity “It was so late and I knew she had to make a decision as to who was going to make the team.” While at camp, Boxx participated in matches against Costa Rica on September 1, 2003 and Mexico. She scored goals in both matches. After this performance Boxx was added to the team, becoming the first uncapped player to be a member of the team[6]. In her first three matches as a member of the national team she managed to score in all three games (the first two coming in the Costa Rica and Mexico matches) with her third coming in a match with Sweden[9]. This is a feat that no other U.S. woman soccer player has accomplished. In the 2003 World Cup matches Boxx started in each of the five matches and scored in not only her game against Sweden but also against Canada which was the game that put the United States in third place[14]. After the tournament she was named to the FIFA’s Women’s World Cup All-Star Team[14].
In 2004 Boxx became a key figure on the national team, starting in 31 of the 32 games that she played in for that season and she was had the second most minutes played[14]. Her first career hat trick came in the Trinidad and Tobago match at an Olympic Qualifying Match[14]. She played in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and played in all six matches and helped the team win the Olympic gold[2]. She once again was named to the FIFA Women’s World Cup All-Star Team but this year she was the captain. During the Algarve Cup she was named Most Valuable Player and was nominated as the 7th in the FIFA’s Women’s World Player of the Year[14].
Shannon Boxx continued to be a strong competitor on the national team. She was a participant in the Algarve Cup, playing in all five games and only missing 23 minutes of the entire tournament[14]. Boxx started in all nine of the games played by the United States that year and was third for minutes played[14].
| National Team | GP/GS | MIN | Goals | Assists | Total Points | Win-Loss-Tie |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 9/9 | 762 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 7-1-1 |
| 2004 | 32/31 | 2714 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 26-2-4 |
| 2005 | 9/9 | 733 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8-0-1 |
| 2006 | 9/9 | 793 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6-0-3 |
| 2007 | 10/8 | 623 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10-0-0 |
[edit] Injuries
Shannon Boxx, like a lot of players encountered many medical problems while in her professional soccer career. Boxx suffered severe problems with the muscles in her feet[11]. She was a habitual starter for the beginning of her career with the United States women’s national team. This changed when she started experiencing pain and problems with her lower extremities. At a practice in July of 2006, Boxx tore both her ACL and MCL and was out for ten months undergoing two surgeries[2]. She also had cartilage problems in her right hip and underwent replacement surgery late in 2006[11]. Boxx battled her way back through daily physical therapy and pain to eventually return to practice[11]. When she did return she was injured again on her first day back due to the physicality of the sport and her not being fully healed[11]. This time Boxx ended up injuring her collateral ligaments, the ligaments that reside just behind the knee; due to this she underwent another surgery that replaced these ligaments with those from a human cadaver[11]. This surgery brought additional problems with ligaments in her legs to the forefront. Boxx went through even more painful physical therapy and fought her way back onto the soccer field in 2007[11].
[edit] Prospects for the Future
Shannon has been named to the 2008 Olympic Women’s Soccer team[2] and is a strong candidate for the 2008 World Cup team. She also plans on attending Pepperdine University to complete her masters degree in clinical psychology[12].
[edit] External links
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[edit] References
1. [http:/www.nd.edu/~wsoccer/95players/boxx.html "1995 Womens Team." University of Notre Dame . Notre Dame Womens Soccer. 28 Oct 2007]
2. "Biographies: Shannon Boxx." U.S. Soccer. 2007. U.S. Soccer. 29 Oct. 2007 <http://ussoccer.com/bio/index.jsp_9852.html>. Calvin College Hekman Library openURL resolver
3. "Boxx back on track." FIFA.com. 6 Sep. 2007. FIFA. 29 Oct. 2007 <http://www.fifa.com/womenworldcup/news/newsid=588960.html>.
4. "Boxx and Other International Stars ." USA Today. 09 22 2003. 24 Oct 2007
7. Lafluer, Pete. "Notre Dame's Golden Girls." University of Notre Dame. 11 12 2004. 29 Oct 2007
10. Michaelis, Vicki. Boxx Tuning Up For World Cup." USA Today: Sports, 07 (May 11, 2007)
12. The Official Shannon Boxx Web Site. 2005. Sports Vue Interactive. 29 Oct. 2007 <http://shannonboxx7.com/>.
13. Whitehead, Johnnie. “The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team.” USA Today (Sept 05, 2007)
14. WUSA. 2006. WUSA. 30 Oct. 2007 <http://www.wusa.com/festival/team/?id=1094&top_team_id=245>
