{"id":91364,"date":"2025-07-25T12:31:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T12:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/91364\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T12:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T12:31:08","slug":"jacksonvilles-first-professional-womens-soccer-team-gears-up-to-make-its-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/91364\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville\u2019s first professional women\u2019s soccer team gears up to make its debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 In just one week, Jacksonville\u2019s first professional women\u2019s soccer team will make its debut. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">To celebrate ahead of the team\u2019s debut in the Gainbridge Super League, Sporting JAX is putting on a kickoff party Friday night in Downtown Jacksonville, where players and coaches will take photos with fans and sign autographs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Twenty-four players are on the roster, including at least 10 who are from the Jacksonville area. They\u2019ll play 16 home matches at UNF\u2019s Hodges Stadium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><b>RELATED |<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/sports\/2025\/05\/21\/meet-the-first-two-players-in-sporting-jax-womens-soccer-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/sports\/2025\/05\/21\/meet-the-first-two-players-in-sporting-jax-womens-soccer-history\/\"><b> Meet the first two players in Sporting JAX women\u2019s soccer history<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Team captain and midfielder, Sophie Jones, said she wants Sporting JAX to make a difference on and off the field. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cInspiring young girls in Jacksonville to play soccer. I think that is a total win for us,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe value being hard-working, competitiveness. We want you to watch our games and you be like \u2018Hey that is a fun team to watch.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sporting Jax player Sophie Jones. (Sporting Jax)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">There\u2019s been some interest and enthusiasm to see these players in action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">A UNF poll conducted in May revealed:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>42% of women and 37% of men said they\u2019ll likely attend Sporting JAX matches.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Those surveyed said factors that would influence their decision to attend a match include ticket price, game times, parking and accessibility<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>59% of women and 48% of men feel it\u2019s very or moderately important for Jacksonville to have a professional soccer team<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Sporting JAX President Steve Livingstone said he wants to put a quality product on the field and create a pathway for the next generation of local athletes to pursue pro soccer at home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWe are really focused on making our community a better place through soccer and through sport. We are particularly focused on women\u2019s sports, we are particularly focused on the special-needs community and we are also focused on communities that are underserved,\u201d Livingstone said.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Livingstone, President of Sporting Jax. (Sporting Jax)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Sporting JAX is hosting 2 preseason friendlies.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>The first one is Aug. 2, when the team plays the Hibernian FC Women<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Then Sporting JAX takes on Wrexham AFC Women on Aug. 10.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\">\n<p>Both of those matches start at 7 p.m. at UNF<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Sporting JAX\u2019s regular season in the Gainbridge Super League kicks off on Aug. 23 with a home match against DC Power FC at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/sports\/2025\/05\/06\/sporting-jax-rolls-out-inaugural-schedule-for-womens-soccer-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/sports\/2025\/05\/06\/sporting-jax-rolls-out-inaugural-schedule-for-womens-soccer-season\/\">Click here for the full schedule<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 In just one week, Jacksonville\u2019s first professional women\u2019s soccer team will make its debut. To&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":91365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,60648,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-91364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-sporting-jax","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114913888685733250","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}