A family in goal

Five miles off U.S. 280 on Alabama 119 there’s a single soccer goal situated in a pasture on a horse farm. It’s known to its owners, the Box family, as a place to practice their sport.

At Briarwood Christian School, it’s known as “Goalie U.”

Beneath its unassuming frame is where this year’s 5A State Champion keeper Jordan Box blocked his first shot, as did the last two BCS goalies, Jordan’s brothers Jonathan and Jeremy.

The Box family has tended the Briarwood goal for nearly the past 10 years, and as of this year, all four brothers who played varsity soccer at the school have a championship ring.

The story starts with the family’s eldest son, Jonathan, who at 7 years old “stuck a knife in his eye,” as his mother Donna Box described. Seven surgeries later, he has vision in that eye and is doing well, she said. But after that incident, she wasn’t about to let him play football.

“We told him he could choose soccer or scouts,” she said. “So, he started soccer, and we learned quickly we knew nothing about it.”

Donna said that Jonathan’s stature led his coaches to try him at goalie, and it fit him perfectly.

“He was very dominant and aggressive,” Donna said. “People were afraid of him, and he did well. We were thinking that so long as he doesn’t try any headers, he’ll be all right.”

Jonathan played keeper for the Lions through his junior season when competition from the family farm caught up to him. All those years practicing with his younger brother, Jeremy, resulted in the two being pitted against each other in tryouts for the 2007 team, which would go on to win the state championship.

Jeremy, the younger, won the job, and his mom said it made for interesting times around the house.

Donna said Jeremy did not play in goal until he was 12 years old. He and his twin brother, Justin, were playing together in the American Soccer Jets Program, and the team was trying to reach a competitive level. Only, they didn’t have a keeper.

“His coach said, ‘I’ll train with you every day,’” Donna said. “Jeremy was this big, tall, thick kid, and he said, ‘Fine.’ He went out every single day and trained with this coach, and that year they went to state finals.”

Donna said Jonathan was the tougher keep, but toughness was a Box family philosophy in the goal.

Several years ago, in a playoff game against Hoover, twins Justin and Jeremy were locked in close match. Justin, the Box family’s only non-goalie soccer star, was playing defender, and his brother was in the goal.

“One kid came down for the ball with his cleats up,” Donna said. “Jeremy went down, too, and the kid’s cleats sliced his head open.”

Donna said by the time she made it Jeremy, his head had been wrapped in gauze.

“I’m going back in, Mom,” he said, his white turban protecting the wound. “I’ve got to finish this game.”

“Baby, your head’s split open,” she replied.

But Jeremy wouldn’t hear it. So Donna said she conceded, but only conditionally.

“I looked at his twin (Justin) and said, ‘If you let a shot get on him, you’re going to be in so much trouble.’”

Briarwood won the game, and Jeremy went to the hospital for five staples.

Jordan, the Lions’ keeper in 2013, watched both brothers play goal while growing up. At first, he didn’t seem like a soccer player to his mom. Donna said the family watched him run across the field at 4 years old, stop and say, “I’m done.”

“I told him, ‘You’re good, but you can’t run.’”

Turns out, he wouldn’t need to. He was in the goal at the farm by age 7 and playing “World Cup” with his brothers every other day, he said. And, with the help of some “amazing coaches,” Jordan helped lead his Lions to a championship in 2013.

In May Briarwood claimed the 5A State Title by defeating St. Paul’s Episcopal from Mobile 3-0. More impressive, Jordan only allowed one goal throughout the team’s playoff run.

Jordan credited the performance in part to the team’s goal coach, his older brother Jeremy.

“He really helped allow me to know exactly what to do,” Jordan said. “Jeremy definitely didn’t always feel like coach. We had some moments of disagreement like you’d expect with a brother, but I was glad he was there to help.”

After graduation, Jordan plans to attend Ole Miss and major in geological engineering. He said he might try to walk on to the football team as a kicker. When he does, he’ll leave Briarwood without a Box in the box for the first time in years.

“I’ve had parents tell me they don’t want their kids in the goal,” said Briarwood Head Soccer Coach Mike Wallace. “They say it’s too much pressure. That family has given me three in the last 10 years.”

Donna acknowledged it isn’t common but also said the family never planned it. If she had it her way, she’d watch her boys block penalty kicks for as long as they chose to do so.