"I was playing rugby with my best friend but he switched to soccer so I moved, too, and haven't turned back."
The 1.88m centreback's earliest recollection with the round ball is of having fun with some his primary school classmates during a lunch break.
"When I really started loving the game was at Mt Albert Grammar," he says, attributing it to former All White Kevin Fallon who was his high school coach.
"He's really helped me as a player and a person. I've got some pretty special memories with Mt Albert Grammar in Napier itself when they had nationals here," Boxall says of the 2005 tourney.
New Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick, at the cusp of his debut season with the Wellington franchise, is toying with his defensive line up.
Boxall believes centreback is what suits him.
"Ernie's [played] me in a few different spots so he's seen me as a more versatile [player]," he says, revealing a portfolio of fullback who has licence to screen centrebacks if needed.
"I'm open to anything and will do whatever the coach says."
Having had a taste of national squad time with ex-Phoenix and current All Whites coach Ricki Herbert, Boxall has opted for blinkers on the Phoenix run.
"I'll do what I have to for the club and whatever happens after that will take care of itself."
He believes modern football allows players to drift in and out of positions when the opportunity arises so, like others, he hopes to find a starting perch when the music stops.
Merrick has defined every role and isn't one to mince words if he feels anyone isn't measuring up on the report card.
"As a team our structures are a lot different. We all simultaneously press a lot higher, looking to win the ball farther up the field.
"It's a high pressure system and it's a lot more hard work but the boys are enjoying it a lot more so I'm sure we'll start enjoying it more when the results start going our way."
Since the changing of guards from Herbert to Merrick, Boxall feels his role has transformed a little bit.
"We're pushing up the field but defenders are there to keep clean sheets, make tackles when we need to and do things like intercepts and that."
He was drafted from University of California's Santa Barbara campus, where he was studying on a three-year scholarship, in 2011 to play for two seasons for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
The former Auckland City player got into the Phoenix muster after losing traction with then Whitecaps coach and Scotsman Martin Rennie in Vancouver.
At the Phoenix, veterans Andrew Durante, a naturalised New Zealander footing it for Herbert's All Whites, and Ben Sigmund, in the media for all the wrong reasons after a mindless tackle against United Arab Emirates on the international tour recently, have had a monopoly in the centreback position.
In the weekend's 1-0 loss to the Spaniard Ramon Tribulietx-coached Auckland City in Rotorua, Boxall came in for Justin Gulley after 65 minutes of play.
Luke Adams, Sigmund and Josh Brindell were the rest of the Beefeaters in the starting XI but reportedly failed to impress Merrick.
The injection of Boxall, Durante, Reece Caira and Manny Muscat shored up the big D but the engine room wasn't firing either.
With first-choice rightback Louis Fenton injured, Boxall and Gulley must equally fancy a start although, it seems, that'll depend on how much the Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney will attack in the two opening Sunday matches on October 13, in Wellington, and October 20 at Parramatta Stadium, Sydney.
Boxall is a safe bet as someone with a daunting presence in the sentry box while Gulley isn't shy to roam, but that decision is the coach's headache.
While Newcastle will probably feel more at home in balmy Napier, Boxall suspects the Bay parochialism can make a difference.
"I think we'll be counting on a big Napier turnout which will definitely make it a home crowd for us ... We hope the community will get behind us," he says of a day when Bay-born retired Phoenix and All White goalkeeper Mark Paston will be here as an ambassador.
Making the A-League playoffs will be the "bare minimum" for Wellington.
"Obviously once you get there and start playing football anything can happen.
"We're already playing a high-pressure game so you'll definitely see more goals," Boxall says. "It's been a good pre-season so we can't wait to get away."
With Merrick's arrival the squad has changed considerably to inject a different level of enthusiasm.
"It's a lot more refreshing to see new faces in the changing rooms and definitely new ideas from the coaching staff so everyone's bought into that."
