Navarro’s addition to the 2016 roster adds yet another level of experience and continues to showcase head coach and technical director Tony Meola’s commitment to strengthening the backline.
"Beto brings us experience in the back,” Meola said. “He is a player who has proven over the last three years that he knows how to win. He comes with a high soccer IQ and lives to play the game. I would describe Beto as a steady and solid professional that fans will appreciate watching in an Armada jersey."
A defender with Southern California roots, Navarro comes to Jacksonville after helping lead USL side Orange County Blues to the 2015 Western Conference regular season title. He started 22 matches and logged 1,926 minutes of action.
In 2012, Navarro played with amateur club Cal FC, coached by U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame player Eric Wynalda, and helped lead the team through an improbable run in the U.S. Open Cup, which included wins over the USL’s Wilmington Hammerheads and MLS’ Portland Timbers before falling to MLS’ Seattle Sounders FC in the fourth round.
Earlier this week the Armada signed of forward Alex Dixon.
Dixon, who hails from Humble, Texas, played three seasons in Major League Soccer with the Houston Dynamo and also trained in the U.S. National Team U-17 residency program.
He arrives in Jacksonville after spending 2014 and 2015 with the USL’s Rochester Rhinos. In 2015, he helped lead the club to one of the best seasons in USL history.
---MIKE BONTS