Sporting Jax nears kickoff: These are the players for Jacksonville's women's soccer debut

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Sporting Jax nears kickoff: These are the players for Jacksonville's women's soccer debut

Clayton Freeman, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union · The Florida Times-Union

Thu, Aug 21, 2025 ·

7 min read

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With each new week, each new game, Stacey Balaam is putting together a 24-piece puzzle.

For the Sporting Club Jacksonville coach, it isn't very easy.

"It's difficult because a lot of players are performing at their best every day," she said. "It gives me a little bit of a selection headache, because I can only choose 11."

Eleven of those lucky Sporting Jax players will get their names on a historic lineup sheet when the club kicks off its inaugural Gainbridge Super League women's soccer season on Aug. 23 against DC Power FC at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium, Jacksonville's first-ever game for a top-division professional women's sports league.

The 24-strong roster — 21 professionals plus three high school locals with the Sporting Jax Academy — takes the first official step in its 28-game march under former Vanderbilt University head coach Balaam.

The roster is a young one. A majority of Sporting Jax's roster comes directly from the college ranks, where they'll plunge in at the deep end for their first game in the nine-team league. After weather and opponent injuries wiped out scheduled exhibitions against European opponents Hibernian and Wrexham, Saturday's game could mark a drastic step up in competition. Flexibility, in the opener and beyond, makes a difference.

How to fit them all together? That's the question.

"They're very adaptable," Balaam said. "We've been working on different things, and they've been able to adjust."

GOALKEEPING

Goalkeepers Hailey Smith (30), Jamie Gerstenberg (1) and Kaitlyn Parks (13) gather during Sporting Jax women's soccer practice on Aug. 12, 2025. [Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]

This is the youngest section of an already-young team.

Rookies with contrasting skill sets, Jamie Gerstenberg and Kaitlyn Parks enter the pro game from Indiana and Michigan State, respectively. The taller Gerstenberg, at 5-9, won the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year award two years ago and has represented Germany's national youth team; Parks was a state-level triple jumper growing up in Maryland, and even scored a goal last year in a 2-2 draw against Ohio State.

With Sporting Jax's approach to possession, when the club owns the ball, keepers are more than just spectators.

"I feel pretty confident with my feet and kind of being almost like that extra center back so that we can move and manipulate pressure," Parks said. "I like to play off my line, and I trust my athleticism enough to be able to get back and cover."

Creekside High School goalkeeper Hailey Smith has also trained with the squad during preseason, one of three Jacksonville-area youth players (along with U.S. Under-17 national fullback Sydney Schmidt and Syracuse-committed midfielder Sarah Weisberg) to get that opportunity before kickoff.

DEFENSE

Start by looking up — way up.

Officially part of the first signing in club history , former University of South Florida defender Georgia Brown towers above her teammates at 6-2. With experience on Scotland's Under-23 women's national team, she's a potential anchor for central defense regardless of the formation.

With only limited competitive action together in preseason due to the cancellation of the Hibernian and Wrexham training matches, the defense must build cohesion fast. There are two former Florida Gators in Julia Lester, formerly with the Orlando Pride in the National Women's Soccer League, and Daviana Vaka, who represents Tonga's national team.

Also expected to see time in defense are Zara Siassi , who shattered UNF career records in numerous categories; Paige Kenton, a Delaware rookie who has also shown a crisp scoring touch in preseason; and Grace Phillpotts, a second-team SEC pick from Kentucky. Signed in January by the Super League's Brooklyn FC, Phillpotts enters as a relative veteran by Jacksonville standards.

"I've been in the league for six months, so it's not even that much, but I think it was enough to kind of learn and help my teammates prepare for what's to come," Phillpotts said.

MIDFIELD

On paper, it's the team's deepest area, and it's built around the nation's No. 1 high schooler from a half-dozen years ago.

Winner of the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award in soccer for 2018-19 at Menlo High School in California, Sophie Jones has lined up for Duke and the NWSL's Chicago Red Stars before coming to Jacksonville as an energizer in the heart of midfield.

While Jones ranges across the midfield's defensive sector, the creative department leans on one of college soccer's most promising prospects in Florida State's Ashlyn Puerta. An attacking midfielder on the United States Under-20 team, she has displayed her ball skills repeatedly in preseason camp.

The options are many for this unit. Versatile Gator Parker Roberts entered camp with NWSL experience to help guide a collection of first-year prospects: All-Big Ten defensive midfielder Sophia Boman, tenacious former Kentucky midfielder Maddie Kemp, Northeastern's career assist leader Jessie Hunt. There's even an international option in Helena Errington, a starter on New Zealand's midfield at last year's Under-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia.

With that much youth, Sporting Jax naturally appreciates the presence of a soccer veteran like Caroline Murray. Among the roster's seasoned pros with years in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, she's seen abundant minutes in preseason as a wide midfielder, wingback or fullback.

"I've played a lot of different styles [with European clubs] so I feel like I've seen the way a lot of different teams play," Murray said. "I'm hoping that experience is something I can bring with me."

ATTACK

Sporting Jax needs goals, and in a very young attack, Jade Pennock has the track record to supply them.

The 32-year-old Pennock previously played college soccer under Balaam at North Georgia in 2015 and has spent seven professional seasons in her native England with Sheffield United and Birmingham City. In May, she helped Central Coast Mariners to the championship of Australia's A-League, although she has had to work her way back gradually from an injury at the start of preseason.

Beyond Pennock, professional experience is in short supply, but there's reason for optimism.

Andrea Fernandez received Division II national player of the year honors after her 22-goal 2024 campaign at Flagler College; Baylee DeSmit twice won Patriot League offensive player of the year at Loyola-Maryland; Meg Hughes used her speed and direct approach to net four consecutive first-team All-Big East selections at Providence before finishing her college career at Michigan State; and Katie Sullivan, formerly at Johns Hopkins, supplies versatility and a scoring touch from the flank.

For each newcomer, the next months bring a crash course in adapting to the tempo of professional soccer.

"I'm really making the decisions before I get the ball, playing one- and two-touch most of the time," Sullivan said, "because you really don't have that much time on the ball."

Sporting Club Jacksonville 2025 opening roster

No.	Pos.	Name	Previous team
1	G	Jamie Gerstenberg	Indiana (NCAA)
2	M	Parker Roberts	Orlando Pride (NWSL)
3	M	Sophia Boman	Minnesota (NCAA)
4	M	Maddie Kemp	Kentucky (NCAA)
5	D	Georgia Brown	South Florida (NCAA)
6	M	Jessie Hunt	Northeastern (NCAA)
7	F	Jade Pennock	Central Coast Mariners (Australia)
8	M	Sophie Jones	Chicago Red Stars (NWSL)
10	F	Meg Hughes	Michigan St. (NCAA)
11	F	Andrea Fernandez	Flagler College (NCAA)
12	D	Caroline Murray	Throttur Reykjavik (Iceland)
13	G	Kaitlyn Parks	Michigan St. (NCAA)
14	D	Sydney Schmidt*	St. Johns Country Day
15	F	Katie Sullivan	Johns Hopkins (NCAA)
16	M	Helena Errington	Wellington Phoenix (New Zealand)
17	F	Baylee DeSmit	Loyola-Maryland (NCAA)
18	M	Sarah Weisberg*	Creekside HS
19	M	Ashlyn Puerta	Florida St. (NCAA)
20	D	Julia Lester	Orlando Pride (NWSL)
22	D	Zara Siassi	North Florida (NCAA)
23	D	Daviana Vaka	Ft. Lauderdale United (Super League)
24	D	Grace Phillpotts	Brooklyn FC (Super League)
27	D	Paige Kenton	Delaware (NCAA)
30	G	Hailey Smith*	Creekside HS

* - Youth academy player; on roster with amateur status, retaining NCAA eligibility.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Sporting Club Jacksonville: 2025-26 Super League women's soccer roster

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