'Mentality and mindset': Jacksonville Armada prepares amid MLS Next Pro countdown

A decade ago, Tommy Krizanovic joined the Jacksonville Armada as a First Coast native hoping to help his hometown club make a new splash in professional soccer.

Now, as the Armada's head coach, the former Englewood High School and Jacksonville University forward guides a new generation taking aim at the same goal.

"The roster has been built in the mind of trying to put together a group that could make the jump to pro, and I would feel like we have that quality of players," Krizanovic said. "The depth within the group is quite good."

Molding those players into potential professionals is the task for Krizanovic as the clock ticks toward the Armada's return to pro soccer.

For this summer, the Armada men's team remains in the National Premier Soccer League, fielding an Under-23 lineup with mostly college players in the NCAA offseason.

But with a professional return in sight as soon as next year in MLS Next Pro, the third-division league affiliated with Major League Soccer, players like Miles Shanley are dreaming of a return.

A St. Augustine native and a center back from Flagler College, Shanley said the giant inflatable mascot, Squid Vicious, first got him hooked on Armada soccer during the club's tenure from 2015 to 2017 in the second-tier North American Soccer League.

"I went to some of the games with my dad when they were at the Jacksonville Suns' stadium [now the Jumbo Shrimp's 121 Financial Ballpark]," Shanley said. "I actually saw Tommy play when he was playing."

In November, MLS Next Pro selected the Armada to join the fast-expanding 29-team league for 2025. During the same announcement, the Armada released new renderings for the club's planned stadium just north of the Eastside sports complex, east of A. Philip Randolph Boulevard and north of the ramp that links downtown to the Mathews Bridge.

The stadium development has since cleared additional hurdles with the City Council, and Armada president Nathan Walter said the club is targeting a summer groundbreaking. The team has also reached a streaming deal with Cox Media Group, which operates Action News Jax.

"I knew the plan the first time to play here three years ago, the plan for this team was to be back in a professional league where it deserves to be. It's really exciting for all of us, and I'm hoping that it happens soon," said Alex Ierides, a former University of Memphis forward originally from Cyprus.

Unlike the Armada's 2015-17 stint in the NASL, the club may face direct local competition from Sporting Jax, backed by an ownership group including Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. Sporting Jax, which operates a franchise in the second-level USL Championship as well as the new USL Super League, targets a spring 2026 kickoff for its men's team.

Entering Saturday night's game on the road at Naples United, the Armada has opened the 10-game NPSL schedule with two wins and a draw. For Krizanovic, an MLS draftee in 2007 who played at multiple levels before his 2015 NASL season with the Armada, developing the mental side of soccer is the most important factor for making the professional jump.

"It's really the mentality and the mindset," he said. "How to deal with adversity, how to deal with different things, how to adjust within the game, not needing sideline information but rather their own instinct."

EYES ON FUTURE FOR ARMADA WOMEN

Saturday also marks a milestone for the Armada women's team, which plays its first home game against Dade County FC in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Kickoff is 5 p.m. at Jacksonville University's Southern Oak Stadium.

"They're young players still in relative career terms, but they've also been around and played at high level and played in big matches," head coach David Gough said.

For the new Armada women's under-23 team, which acquired the WPSL's former Florida Sol team in January, the path to the professional game is less clear than for the men. Although Armada owner Robert Palmer announced interest in December in launching a franchise in the first-division National Women's Soccer League, competition for any future expansion bid will likely be heavy.

Players from the college and high school game make up most of the roster, although some, like former Clay High School and University of North Florida forward LizAnne Fogarty, have more extensive WPSL experience from Florida Sol days.

"Playing at a few different schools has been able to show me those different perspectives, giving me the opportunity to just learn from the game," Fogarty said.

The Armada women won their debut last week 3-0 against FC Prime in Coral Springs, with goals from Paige McSwigan of UNF, Logan Gonzales of JU and Bella Ruggiano of Northwestern State.

"I know it's our first season," said McSwigan, who played high school soccer at Creekside, "but I feel like we're a great team and I think we can go pretty far."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Armada: 2024 soccer club prepares for MLS Next Pro