A few hundred Gainesville Soccer Alliance (GSA) players wearing their blue game jerseys, parents and coaches gathered in the Best Western Gateway Grand hotel conference room on Tuesday for a town hall meeting announcing the club’s new partnership with Sporting Club Jacksonville. 

Also known as Sporting JAX, the Jacksonville-based soccer club is a $1.5 billion business founded in 2020 working to operate multiple professional United Soccer Leagues (USL). The club is supported by high-profile athletic partners such as Tim Tebow, Fred Taylor and former University of Florida women’s soccer coach Becky Burleigh.   

After a months-long search for the right partner, GSA’s board approved the merger in March. 

The move will allow Sporting JAX to manage GSA’s competitive team under the new name of Sporting Gainesville Soccer Academy (SGSA), while GSA continues to exist as a nonprofit running free clinics and outreach programs in the northeast Gainesville community. 

Sporting JAX proposed a 10-year business plan at Tuesday’s town hall for developing current and future Gainesville soccer talent by investing in pathways created for them to maximize their recreational, high school, collegiate or professional potential.  

“We’re trying to get an identity, trying to get professionalism, trying to get support,” said GSA founder Jeremy Witt. “I saw what [Sporting JAX] could do for us beyond anything I can do. What we’re about to do to Alachua County and to Gainesville is change the game.” 

Witt said he started GSA in 1995 as the Gainesville Select Soccer Club around the same time he started coaching. Out of the four soccer clubs in Gainesville, Witt said GSA has grown into the largest with up to 1,400 players a year, and around 250 of those players in the competitive arm. 

Sean Bubb is the executive director for Florida League Soccer Academy, now part of Sporting JAX which has 15,000 players. He said the high participation in club soccer Gainesville makes for a large pool of talent, something he said he’s waited years to tap into after 77 other mergers.  

“We’re very excited to be here,” Bubb said. “You’re going to change your name and identity. This is your city. This is your town. We’re going to build a club that people fear, people respect and [where] people know we have great soccer players.” 

After meeting with the coaches and watching how GSA practices are currently run, Bubb said the first thing he plans to do is focus on development because winning is a byproduct of developing the right way.  

He said developing SGSA will take investing in the three teams needed for operating a competitive club: players, parents and coaches. Bubb encouraged the players to watch Gainesville’s own “pro teams” at UF as the next level to aspire to and to thank their parents for the opportunity to play sports.  

He also said he wants to provide teams for every age group, which GSA does not currently have. While there will not be any personnel changes among the current staff, Bubb said resources from Jacksonville will provide additional staff and structured education to ensure consistent philosophies are administered across all age groups.  

Bubb said they’ll also bring in sports science professionals who have worked with the U.S. women’s national team. He’s also working to get video platforms like Hudl to help players build portfolios of film to send to colleges for recruiting. 

“We will build on what is already being done,” he said. “I want to play for my high school team. I want to play in college. I want to play for the pros. I want to play on the national team. The opportunity is now here, but talking about it doesn’t do it. Having the infrastructure, having the training, having the correct messages and education will help you.” 

With the goal of working up to the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), Bubb also said SGSA will change leagues into the North Florida Premier League (NFPL) where he currently serves as president. By April next year, the club aims to be part of the ECNL regional league and then be promoted into ECNL in a few years. 

According to Bubb, participating in competitive leagues increases players’ exposure to collegiate and professional recruiting scouts. At a club he developed in Dallas, Bubb said the 15-year-old sophomore girls had already committed to power five schools and 55 players in Jacksonville committed to play soccer in college this year.  

But he said it doesn’t matter how good a player is unless they’re investing in their education too, otherwise college coaches can’t recruit student-athletes. 

“I want to play in college someday,” said 11-year-old GSA player Abby Luca. “I’m most excited about the new coaches coming in and helping us out.” 

Bubb recognized that Sporting JAX will have to pay money into the Gainesville club in order to make a lot of this happen, especially since prices for playing will not increase next year—a perk that made the parents clap. He said those resources are a benefit of being part of a “super club.” 

On April 13-14, Bubb said the Gainesville club will host clinics to evaluate talent. Tryouts on May 1 will start building rosters for the new season starting Aug. 1. Next February, Bubb aims to host a tournament at the Jonesville Soccer Complex and bring in other NFPL teams.  

As a parent of current GSA athletes and UF’s head soccer coach, Samantha Bohon said developing soccer players to the next level will come much easier by partnering with a large franchise.  

“We’re invested not only as University of Florida coaches, but also as parents,” she said. “Our interest in authentically providing a really good development opportunity and trying to unite the Gainesville soccer community into one club, we’re spread too thin right now.” 

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the spelling of Sean Bubb’s last name.