Former professional goalkeeper, MLS Cup winner and Jacksonville Armada FC co-founder returns to Jacksonville to help plan the club’s 2027 season
Sporting Club Jacksonville (Sporting JAX) has engaged S&G Sports Ecosystems LLC to advise the club on sporting strategy for its men’s and women’s professional teams and the Sporting JAX Soccer Academy. Darío Sala, who co-founded Jacksonville Armada FC and served as its general manager, will lead the engagement on behalf of S&G.
Sala will work with club leadership, both coaching staffs and academy leadership to set priorities for the 2027 season. His review will focus on roster planning, how the club allocates resources across its two professional teams, and how academy players can earn opportunities to train and compete at the first-team level.
“Darío knows Jacksonville soccer from the work of building a club here,” said Ricky Caplin, owner and executive chairman of Sporting JAX. “He also understands what a head coach needs from the front office over the course of a season. We wanted both perspectives as we plan for 2027.”
Born in Córdoba, Argentina, Sala played professional soccer for 18 years, from 1993 to 2011, in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Spain and the United States. In Argentina he played for River Plate, San Lorenzo, Independiente, Newell’s Old Boys, Talleres and Belgrano, and he led Los Andes to promotion to the top division, keeping seven straight clean sheets in the promotion playoff. At Deportivo Cali in Colombia, he was named the league’s goalkeeper of the year and best foreign player, and he was the least-scored-upon goalkeeper in the 2003 Copa Libertadores. He then spent six seasons with FC Dallas in Major League Soccer, recording 22 shutouts and serving as captain.
Sala began building a career in the business of sports before he retired as a player. In 2010 he founded Dario Sala Soccer (DSS) and developed the Chevy Youth Soccer program for Chevrolet. Through DSS he has produced international matches in the United States, managing venues, ticketing, commercial partners and event operations, and he advises on international sports projects. In 2013 he co-founded Jacksonville Armada FC and served as its general manager.
He returned to the field in 2015 alongside Gerardo “Tata” Martino, first with Argentina’s national team and then with Atlanta United, where he was part of the staff that won the 2018 MLS Cup. He later spent a season with Universidad Católica in Chile. He also co-founded The Women’s Cup, which brings leading women’s clubs from around the world together in international tournaments. He is a co-founder of Sports Performance Hub, a sports, education and entertainment development in South Florida.
Sala speaks English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
“Jacksonville is where I first had the opportunity to help build a professional club, so this work means something personal to me,” said Sala. “I am very excited to build winning teams, and will make working with the coaches to determine what an academy player needs to show to earn a first-team training opportunity a major priority. The clearer we can make that for players, families and coaches, the stronger the connection between the academy and the professional teams, and ultimately our community will be.”
Fans can find upcoming match details and ticket information at sportingjax.com, and can stay connected with the latest news, matchday updates, and behind-the-scenes stories, by following Sporting JAX across all social platforms.
