Maxwell Griffin, starting left forward for the UCLA Bruins, first began to play soccer at the age of 4 because of his family. “My brothers were into it,” said Griffin. “I was around it since I was born. My parents just got me into it.”
Yet he didn’t start his career as a goal scorer. Indeed, his role was quite the opposite. “When I was younger I started as goalkeeper,” Griffin said. “I played goalie through my AYSO days, until I was 9 or 10. I found my way up to forward and stayed at that. I liked being on the field much more than I liked being in goal.”
When Maxwell made the decision to come to UCLA he continued a family tradition. Older brother Leonard Griffin played for the Bruins as well.
“Maxwell, he comes from a family where his older brother came here,” said coach Jorge Salcedo. “His older brother was a very good player for us. Maxwell has a lot of the attributes that his brother had. He’s a good student; he’s very committed to the game; he’s very passionate about our program.”
Once at UCLA, the younger Griffin was a member of a squad that finished as national runners-up in 2006. His most memorable moment, however, was not of game-winning goals or tournament runs, but his first game in true blue and gold.
“I got on the field when we played against Santa Clara at Cal State Fullerton,” said Griffin. “I scored and that was the biggest goal of my life.”
That goal was just the first of many more for the team. Griffin was the leading goal scorer for the Bruins in 2007, as well as the team points leader. “Maxwell was the leading goal scorer because of his work rate, his tenacity in front of goal,” Salcedo said. “He’s someone that is very eager to put himself in front of goal. Those are good tendencies for a forward.”
During the game, Griffin said, strategy is not just to plant himself in front of the goal and wait for the ball to come to him. “Individually I concentrate on holding the ball and connecting with our midfielders,” said Griffin. “That strategy kind of works for the team as well.”
With his offensive prowess, Griffin is able to be a leader on a team with 12 new players. The star forward believes in leading by example. “I work as hard as I can to show the guys that hard work can get us the wins,” said Griffin. Coach Salcedo isn’t one to protest this claim. “Every day you can count on his commitment and his effort. He’s someone that leads by example and works hard on and off the field.”
This commitment to excellence was key when Griffin tore an ACL in 2006. “Maxwell is a very hardworking athlete, and he’s someone that puts in a lot of time off the field to prepare himself physically,” Salcedo said. Yet both Griffin and Salcedo noticed the difference in his play at the beginning of last year. “No matter what, when you have a serious injury like Maxwell had, it took him a little time to regain some of his balance and some of his ability to control his body,” said Salcedo. “It took him a little bit of time to regain his technique that he had prior to his injury.”
“Last year was a little shaky because I didn’t get much playing in,” said Griffin. ” I slowly got into the season. It has definitely made me mentally stronger. If I can get through that than I can get through anything.” His struggle to get through the injury was a success. His most memorable moment from last year was a goal against rival California. “The most memorable moment was would be the win against Cal at home,” said Griffin. “We got the goal at the last minute to win the game.”
Griffin’s injury also gave him a more determined outlook on the future, allowing him to help teammates struggling with injuries. “It’s definitely hard to cope with all these injuries,” said Griffin. “We had a talk about it. We’re better as a unit this year. We have to go out every single game and have the confidence that you can go out and look for each other.”
Now, however, Griffin’s focus is on the season ahead. He hopes to transfer his high level of concentration to the rest of his team. “I think we just need to come together more as a group and have the same mentality to work together and in your own individual roles,” said Griffin. “Our mentality needs to be stronger so we can get the first goal and maintain the lead.”
Griffin hopes that his success as a Bruin will continue professionally, but for the time being, there are titles to be won in Westwood.