The former University of Florida great will assist club in building new USL Super League program
JAXUSL has announced the appointment of former University of Florida women’s head coach Becky Burleigh to a consulting role with the pro club.
The legendary coach, who compiled 516 career wins and won an NCAA Division I National Championship in 1998 while leading the Gators women’s soccer team over 26 seasons, has been brought in to the organization to support and direct JAXUSL’s efforts in developing its newly announced USL Super League women’s club.
In Southeastern Conference play, Burleigh’s Gators teams won 13 SEC championships, and ten SEC tournament titles, leading all other SEC teams since the Florida soccer team began play in 1995.
The 1998 Gators finished 26–1, their only regular season loss coming to the same North Carolina team that the Gators defeated in the NCAA championship final. Players from her 1998 national championship team included All-Americans Danielle Fotopoulos, Heather Mitts and Erin Baxter. During her tenure at Florida, Burleigh coached seventeen All-American players including USWNT stand out Abby Wambach, Canadian national team player Melanie Booth and England internationalist Danielle Murphy.
As a head coach, Burleigh compiled an overall career record of 516–166–49, with a winning percentage of 70.45%. She ranks second in the total number of all-time wins among Division I coaches. Burleigh briefly came out of coaching retirement in 2021 as the interim head coach for the NWSL’s Orlando Pride picking up 12 points in seven games to move the Pride into fourth position in the league.
Welcoming Burleigh to JAXUSL, President and CEO Steve Livingstone said: “We are thrilled beyond belief to add Becky to our team. To have someone of her caliber and experience to assist us as we build the first women’s professional club in Northeast Florida is special, and we are greatly looking forward to beginning the process of building our women’s program with her legendary expertise.
“We want all our programs to be first class and competitive from the get-go, and we want to provide our players and coaches with the best facilities and a safe and productive environment to play and enjoy their career with us. Our dedication extends to how we are going to build our women’s club and organization and to make sure we do this to the highest standard; we’ve sought out the best guidance and advice – and that’s Becky.”
JAXUSL’s new women’s team consultant Becky Burleigh said: “I’m super excited to be a part of this. I came to North Florida 30 years ago to start the program at UF, so this is really a full circle moment for me to be a part of this on the ground floor level of starting a professional women’s team here in Northeast Florida.
“What the USL and JAXUSL are doing is such an amazing thing and opportunity. As the years have progressed, I’ve seen the talent level in the women’s game rise, and we need places for that talent to go. And there’s so much talent out there that’s going to continue to grow in this region.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes next, and helping to find the club’s first sporting director and head coach for the Super League program.”
