Sporting Club Jacksonville women’s soccer will switch to a spring-to-fall season along with the rest of the USL Gainbridge Super League beginning in 2027, with a shorter fall league to begin the transition this August.
The transitional fall season, reduced to eight teams after the Spokane Zephyr ceased competition in May, will kick off on August 15. Each team will play 14 games, seven at home and seven on the road, until the season’s final date on Nov. 28.
Semifinals for the top four teams will be Dec. 5, followed by the championship match on Dec. 12. The Sporting Jax women reached the semifinals in their debut season at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium before losing to Carolina Ascent FC.
The switch represents a change in approach for the Super League, which kicked off in 2024 on a fall-to-spring structure that was intended to more closely replicate the club soccer schedule used around most of the world. That calendar marked a significant difference from the established National Women’s Soccer League, which competes from spring to fall.
“This transition supports player movement, roster development, and long-term growth while creating an exciting, competitive environment that resonates with our fans and strengthens our connection to communities,” USL president Amanda Vandervort said in a statement.
Both the NWSL, which includes the majority of the United States women’s national team, and the Super League hold first-division status from the United States Soccer Federation. Under U.S. Soccer’s professional league standards, however, the Super League would need to expand to 10 teams — two more than its present membership — by year four.
Other than the starting and ending dates, the Super League has not issued a schedule for the fall season, and has not specified exactly when the 2027 spring-to-fall season would begin.
Sporting Jax expects to begin preseason training for the fall season in early July.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sporting Jax women receive schedule shakeup. When will they play next?
Reporting by Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
