Max Balard (right) with the other captains of the 17U and 19U Australian and New Zealand Schoolboys teams
Max Balard (right) with the other captains of the 17U and 19U Australian and New Zealand Schoolboys teams

Recently UNSW Business School student and Ben Lexcen scholar Max Balard had one last hurrah with the Australian Schoolboys football team, captaining his country in a friendly against New Zealand.

Balard's team defeated the Kiwis 2-0 in a tough battle, where the UNSW star was also awarded Player of the Match for his sensational efforts on the field.

Max Balard attacks the ball during his team's 2-0 defeat of New Zealand
Max Balard attacks the ball during his team's 2-0 defeat of New Zealand

Balard is in his first year of a double degree in Economics and Commerce at UNSW. He has a passion for dealing with money and understanding markets and hopes to work as an investment banker after he completes his football career. While studying and playing sport at an elite level is challenging, Balard isn't one to shy away from a challenge and believes it's important to do both.

"It's important to me because it gets my mind off football from time to time," he said. "It gets me away from training, it means I can calm down and get work done – study hard and then get back to football! It gives me a good balance. My biggest challenge is the travel – getting between football and uni. But I’ve done that through the HSC and my schooling career, so I'm used to it."

With a big career in football and finance ahead of him, Balard is certainly a rising star to keep an eye on into the future.