Steven Mail is the president of Florida Elite Soccer Club. Florida Elite, one of the largest youth soccer organizations in Florida, announced it will merge with Sporting Jax in 2025. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on November 26, 2024 at 2:35 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
The infamous volt jerseys sported by one of Florida’s largest youth soccer clubs will soon be relegated to the past.
Florida Elite Soccer Academy and Sporting Jax announced the two organizations will merge in 2025.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Sporting Jax is a United Soccer League franchise that aims to bring professional men’s and women’s soccer to Northeast Florida.
“Northeast Florida has been a hotbed for youth soccer for years,” said Sporting Jax President and CEO Steve Livingstone. “Executives with the soccer franchise and youth soccer club are optimistic the merger will provide additional opportunities for players who want a kickabout with friends to those who aspire to play professionally.
“It’s our goal to bring our professional expertise to support the growth of the youth clubs, both on and off the pitch, with all profits going back to the youth club, obviously. Crucially, this merger creates a genuine pathway to the highest level of professional soccer for boys and girls across our community.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Florida Elite has 12,000 registered players. Most of them are in Northeast Florida; however, the club does have a presence in Tallahassee.
Since its creation in 2014, it has sent scores of players to college, including former U.S. Youth international and current UCLA freshman Avery Robinson.
“At Florida Elite, we have lots of international coaches. Culturally, what we do for the boys, we do for the girls,” says Florida Elite President Steven Mail. “We bring all these kids in. It doesn’t matter what level you are, we have a team for you. And, you will play similar type players against similar type players. It’s a fantastic opportunity for everybody. Sporting Jax will introduce more professionalism.”
Soccer in Northeast Florida
Soccer evangelists hope the global game will experience another renaissance when the men’s World Cup is played here in 2026.
The question is whether Northeast Florida will be ready to put the opportunity home when it arrives.
Jacksonville is the fourth-largest media market in the country without a professional soccer presence.
Milwaukee is slated to enter the USL in 2026. Cleveland is a finalist for a National Women’s Soccer League franchise, and Baltimore is an hour’s drive away from men’s and women’s professional teams in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Sporting Jax has yet to announce when it will play competitive matches.
When Sporting Jax was launched in 2022, the club said it planned to kick off in 2025. In May, when the club announced its broadcast deal, it also shared that its inaugural season was pushed back to 2026.
As part of the merger, Florida Elite will be called Sporting Jax Youth and wear a blue, yellow, orange and white kit inspired by Northeast Florida’s waterways and sunshine. The black and volt kit that club leadership created in an attempt to stand out will soon be gone.
“Soccer is a community movement. It’s very different from other sports. (The youth level) is the root of it all,” said Sporting Jax owner Ricky Caplin. “I can’t think of another major league sport that has this youth presence.
“You have so much of an opportunity to breathe into children. … It has so much connectivity. You’re literally invited into people’s homes.”
