Sporting Jax captain Sophie Jones, left, shares a moment with Hibernian Women captain Rachael Boyle during a news conference Wednesday, July 30, 2025, inside Visit Jacksonville headquarters. Sporting Jax will host the reigning Scottish Women's Premier League champion in its debut match. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on July 31, 2025 at 12:13 pm
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Sporting Jax could not face a sterner test in its debut match.
Women’s professional soccer will kick off in the River City with the local XI face Scottish champion Hibernian Women on Saturday evening.
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Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Hodges Stadium. Tickets are available here.
Hosting a European club that won its league title would have been an accomplishment for any North American professional club. But, Sporting Jax has never played a game in front of an audience.
“We are not playing against just anyone; we are playing against champions,” says Sporting Jax captain Sophie Jones. “I think that sets the tone for who we want to be. We’re very excited for a competitive match. They’re going to be very good, so we have got to bring our best.”
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Saturday will not be the first time, Sporting Jax will play a championship-quality side. The club faced reigning NWSL champion and NWSL Shield winners Orlando Pride behind closed doors earlier this month.
This time it will be in front of people.
“I think it was five years ago that this vision was in place. I’m so thankful for this organization,” says Sporting Jax head coach Stacey Balaam. “I’m sure that they are looking at this significant match this upcoming Saturday and saying ‘Wow! We’ve done it.’ I think that is really special for everyone involved in Sporting Jax — not necessarily the players.
“To do it against someone from overseas that has just been crowned champions of their league … I think it’s a really special moment, special occasion for everybody.”
Northeast Florida has a robust girls and women’s soccer culture that has extended decades.
Youth programs in the region — including what is now known as Sporting JAX Soccer Academy — repeatedly excel at national competitions. The high school programs in St. Johns County are some of the best in the nation. Meanwhile, Jaxsons Mandy McGlynn and Avery Patterson have represented the U.S. women’s soccer team this calendar year.
Now, Sporting Jax gives the city a professional women’s side. One person who was instrumental in that was the late Ron Gordon.
He was an early investor in Sporting Jax, as it tried to launch in 2020. He became executive chairman of Hibernian Women in 2019 and helped the club navigate the financial pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gordon died after a cancer diagnosis in 2023.
Hibernian manager Grant Scott says the club aims to represent the Gordon family in its first foray to Florida.
“It’s a really important point for us at Hibernian,” Scott says. Ian (Gordon) has a pivotal role in the club day to day. Kit, when she’s in the (United Kingdom), she’s at all the women’s games that she can attend — alongside the men’s games. There is a real loyalty to them.
“We are very driven by Ron’s vision, which (his children) Kit and Ian drive forward.”
Women’s soccer has grown exponentially since Gordon first invested in the sport six years ago. The Gainbridge Super League, which Sporting Jax will play its inaugural season this year, kicked off in 2024. Elsewhere in the American soccer ecosystem, the NWSL has added three clubs in the last three years and plans to expand into Denver and Boston in 2026.
Rachael Boyle hopes similar enthusiasm for women’s football can be cultivated in Edinburgh.
Boyle earned her first international cap 15 years ago, served as a midfielder for Hibernian for nearly a decade and is the captain. She says the interest Northeast Florida has shown in Sporting Jax is incredible.
In May, Boyle lifted the Scottish Women’s Premier League trophy to give Hibernian its first league title in 18 years.
“I think women’s sports are finally getting the recognition that it deserves,” Boyle says. “It’s so fascinating across the globe. You pay attention to different teams from everywhere. More specifically, watching our own league, its gone right down to the wire. Every season seems to get more and more exciting, which I don’t understand how that’s possible.
“Thankfully, we came out on top this time. We’re hoping that’s going to help grow our fan base. To see the fan base that Sporting Jax has already created in a short space of time since they have been formed is incredible, and it’s only going to go in one direction.”
