Outside the box: how U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx, the oldest debutante in national team history, secured her post-WUSA career - Women's United Soccer Association - Interview

Soccer Digest, Dec, 2003 by John Philip Wyllie

LIKE MOST AMERICAN SOCCER enthusiasts, Shannon Boxx was thrilled when she learned that the Women's World Cup would be returning to the United States. Boxx, her family, and her fiance, Sean Tanaka, didn't waste any time securing a block of tickets for the games scheduled for the beautiful new Home Depot Center. She didn't have the slightest inkling that her career was about to take a major upturn.

Set to take on an assistant coaching position at Cal State-Dominguez Hills and to pursue a master's degree in clinical-psychology at Pepperdine following the WUSA season, Boxx hadn't even considered the possibility that she might be selected as a member of the United States World Cup team. Without a single cap at that time to her credit, there was no reason to believe otherwise.

An invitation to April Heinrichs' August national team training camp provided Boxx the long-awaited opportunity she craved to prove herself. To say that the rugged All-WUSA defensive midfielder made the most of it would be a gross understatement. "April and I had spoken near the end of the [WUSA] season," says Boxx. "She told me that she had been watching me and that I was playing great. She said that I would get my chance, but she didn't know [at that time] if it would be before or alter the World Cup, so I figured it would be after. It was so late and I knew she had to make a decision as to who was going to make the team."

Boxx responded to Heinrichs' invitation and the tenacious defensive midfielder performed the same way she had throughout the 2003 season. While Boxx was pleased with her own effort, she believed that the most she could hope for was a second invitation sometime after the World Cup. Her aggressive, physical style, her ball-winning capabilities. and her conditioning, speed. and size (5'8", 147 pounds) convinced Heinrichs that the New York Power MVP deserved a slot on the World Cup roster.

When Heinrichs provided her the news, Boxx was so stunned to that she nearly fell out of her chair. Not believing her ears, she asked Heinrichs to repeat it. It was true: Boxx had become the first uncapped player ever selected to the U.S. World Cup team. Her inclusion was especially remarkable in that only a year before, Boxx had turned in a sub-par performance with the struggling San Diego Spirit. Following the 2002 season, she was traded to Now York as part of the blockbuster Aly Wagner deal. The trade proved to be something of a catalyst for Boxx's career.

"The trade was discouraging at first because I was leaving San Diego and my friends and family on the West Coast. I thought I had put everything I could into the team and I got traded," says Boxx. "But once I found out that it was Power coach Tom Sermanni that wanted me, I became gung ho about it and I was ready to go out and prove myself again." Boxx, whose fitness was never an issue, honed herself into razor-sharp condition

"I have to credit one of my friends, Craig Bennett," says Boxx. "He trained me in the offseason and helped me get really fit. That extra level of fitness allowed Tom to let me go wherever I wanted to go on the field. In San Diego, they wanted me to defend, defend, defend. In New York I was told that if I could go forward that I should do it. I have always thought I was pretty good (at all aspects of the game). I can defend, but I can also play make. I just wasn't given a chance to do that in San Diego."

While she only scored one goal for the Power in 2003, Boxx was instrumental in setting up several others. She recorded a career-high eight assists with her newly adopted attack-minded style. Becoming the first American woman in history to score goals in her first three national team appearances, Boxx has made Heinrichs look like a genius.

"People are expecting me to score in every game now," Boxx said after connecting on the final goal that deflated an impressive Swedish side 3-1 in their World Cup opener. "That expectation will put a lot of pressure on me and that's fine. I don't mind the pressure, but I am not going in saving that I am going to score."

Pressure and competition are things that Boxx has dealt with her entire life. Raised by her mother after her parents split up many years ago. Boxx was a scholar-athlete at South Torrence High School and later at the University of Notre Dame. A natural athlete, she excelled as a prep star not only in soccer, but in softball, volleyball, and basketball as well.

"My Mom raised us. She let us play [whatever sport] we wanted and she was behind us 100% even if that meant giving up on her weekend [plans] and on her own [social] life. Knowing that we could go all out in anything we wanted to do, we were going to succeed--and we did."

Boxx focused her attention on soccer for the Fighting Irish and was a key member of the university's only NCAA Division I Championship (1995, Boxx's freshman year). A year later, her sister Gillian earned an Olympic gold medal in the Atlanta Summer Olympics as the catcher on the U.S. softball team.

"We have this little game going that we are always fighting for our Mom's acceptance as the number one daughter," says Boxx. "I think we go by who is doing better in sports. She has an Olympic gold medal so she is killing me fight now. It's just a little fun game. I hope I'm catching up."