But the player who lived the dream of competing at the Fifa World Cup in South Africa this year said returning for the first time to his old school was "really cool".
"It's cool to see all the old teachers that were part of our lives back then."
Boyens was invited back to the school yesterday as guest speaker at the junior prizegiving, where he presented Kavanagh with an All Whites jersey from the world cup game against Italy.
Since the world cup, he had returned to New York, where he plays for the New York Red Bulls.
He returns to Dunedin in the off season to spend time with family, and run football camps for children aged 7-13.
He expected to return to New York next year, although another season in the US was not "100% finalised".
