Tormenta FC

South Georgia Tormenta FC is an American soccer organization based in Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2015, the club fields a professional team in USL League One, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as well as a pre-professional team in USL League Two called Tormenta FC 2. The team colors are midnight navy, sky blue, silver, and magenta. The team's crest shows an ibis.[1][2]

South Georgia Tormenta FC
Full nameSouth Georgia Tormenta Football Club
Founded2015 (2015)
StadiumEagle Field at Erk Russell Park
Statesboro, Georgia
Capacity3,500
Co-Owners
  • Darin Van Tassell
  • Netra Van Tassell
  • Jeff Spencer
Head CoachIan Cameron
LeagueUSL League One
20208th Place
Playoffs: DNQ
WebsiteClub website

History

South Georgia Tormenta FC was founded in 2015 making it Statesboro's first pro team in any sport in 60 years, since the Statesboro Pilots of baseball's Georgia State League folded in 1955. Owned by Tormenta FC LLC, the operations of the franchise are steered by Darin Van Tassell and Netra Van Tassell. The word "tormenta" means "storm" in Spanish.[3]

2016

On May 21, 2016, Tormenta FC hosted its inaugural home match against the Carolina Dynamo in front of 3,105 fans.[4]

Tormenta FC won their first match in club history on June 16, 2016 against the Charlotte Eagles in a 2–0 decision.[5] The club then followed up that victory with a second consecutive win on June 18, 2016 by defeating the Carolina Dynamo 1–0.[6] On June 23, 2016, Tormenta FC not only scored their first ever home goal, but the team managed to win their first home match as well; a 1–0 victory over Southern West Virginia King's Warriors.[7]

Tormenta had a five-game win streak snapped in a 2–1 defeat against the King's Warriors on July 2, 2016.

The club finished 6th out of 8 in the South Atlantic Division.[8]

2018

On January 25, 2018, South Georgia Tormenta FC was announced as the first founding member of USL League One for 2019. The team had an undefeated regular season in 2018, clinching the Deep South Division championship. Tormenta FC hosted the conference playoffs in Statesboro, Georgia.[9]

2019

On March 29, 2019, Tormenta FC hosted the inaugural match of USL League One, winning 1–0 against the Greenville Triumph and setting a new attendance record of 3,519.[10] After a successful start to the season that saw the team in second place, a second-half downturn with 2 wins in their last 16 matches brought them down to 6th place and out of a playoff spot.

2020

On September 16, 2020, Tormenta announced that it had promoted John Miglarese to Technical Director, and promote previous assistant coach and head coach of Tormenta 2, Ian Cameron, to head coach of the first team.[11]

Stadium

Tormenta FC currently plays at Eagle Field at Erk Russell Park on the Georgia Southern University campus. Construction for a Optim Health Sytems Field,[12] a 5,300-seat soccer-specific stadium in Statesboro commenced on March 27, 2019, due for a 2022 completion.[13][14]

Sponsorship
Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2016–2018 Nike Optim Orthopedics
2019–present Adidas Optim Healthcare

Record

Year-by-year
Year Division League Regular Season Playoffs U.S. Open Cup
2016 4 USL PDL 5th, South Atlantic Did not qualify Did not qualify
2017 USL PDL 4th, South Atlantic Did not qualify Did not enter
2018 USL PDL 1st, Deep South Conference Semifinals Second Round
2019 3 USL1 6th Did not qualify First Round
2020 USL1 8th Did not qualify Cancelled

Players and staff

Current roster
As of January 13, 2021[15][16]
No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Pablo Jara  Chile
3 Defender Stefan Mueller  United States
4 Defender Lars Eckenrode  United States
7 Midfielder Luca Mayr-Fälten  Austria
10 Midfielder Marco Micaletto  Italy
12 Midfielder Abuchi Obinwa  United States
23 Defender Curtis Thorn  England
— Forward Adrian Billhardt  Germany
— Forward Azaad Liadi  United States
— Midfielder Craig McCall  Scotland
— Defender Sergi Nus  Spain
— Midfielder Kobe Perez  United States
— Defender Luis Rodriguez  Colombia
  1. ^
    USL Academy Contract
    2.

Technical staff
As of February 4, 2020[17]
  • John Miglarese – VP of Player Development and Technical Director
  • Ian Cameron – Head Coach
  • Jorge Gonzalez – Assistant Coach
  • Nick Jaramillo – Goalkeeping Coach

Front office
As of September 19, 2018[18]
  • Mike Panter – VP of Soccer Operations
  • Bryce Judy - Director of Soccer Operations
  • Justin Smith - Assistant Director of Soccer Operations
  • Bernadette O'Donnell – Director of Communications and Public Relations
  • Logan Crosby - Director of Business Development
  • Todd Bergstrom - Director of Sales & Services

Tormenta FC 2
Main article: Tormenta FC 2

In January 2019, the team announced that it would continue to field a team in USL League Two while also playing professionally in USL League One.[19] The team, Tormenta FC 2, continues to play in the Deep South Division and has won the conference once in 2019. During its inaugural season, the team won the Southern Conference for the first time in organization history.[20]

The 2 team has also qualified for two U.S. Open Cup tournaments in 2019 and 2020, with the latter being cancelled and the tournament spot being transferred to 2021.[21][22]

Honors

USL League Two
  • Deep South Division Champion: 2018

References
  1. "PDL Awards Franchise to Statesboro, Georgia". Premier Development League (PDL). August 6, 2015.
  2. "Tormenta FC Arrives in South Georgia". Premier Development League (PDL). October 28, 2015.
  3. "Frequently Asked Questions". Tormentafc.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  4. "History in the making for Tormenta". Tormentafc.com. 23 May 2016.
  5. Colin (17 June 2016). "Tormenta FC Secures First Win".
  6. "Tormenta FC moves up in Ranking with Two Consecutive Wins On The Road". Tormentafc.com. 20 June 2016.
  7. "Tormenta comes through in the clutch". Statesboroherald.com.
  8. "Standings - 2016 Regular Season - South Georgia Tormenta FC 2". www.uslleaguetwo.com. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  9. "Tormenta FC joins USL Division III for 2019". January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  10. O'Donnell, Bernadette (2019-03-30). "Post-Game Notes: March 29 vs Greenville Triumph SC". South Georgia Tormenta FC. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  11. news@tormentafc.com, Tormenta FC Staff- (2020-09-16). "Tormenta FC Names Ian Cameron as USL League One Head Coach". South Georgia Tormenta FC. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  13. "Tormenta Stadium to break ground March 27". Statesboroherald.com.
  14. https://www.wtoc.com/2019/10/24/tormenta-fc-owners-give-update-new-stadium-retail-shops/
  15. "2020 USL League One Roster". tormentafc.com.
  16. "South Georgia Tormenta FC Roster | uslleagueone.com". Uslleagueone.com.
  17. "Technical Staff". Tormentafc.com.
  18. "Front Office". Tormentafc.com.
  19. O'Donnell, Bernadette (23 January 2019). "Tormenta FC Announces Rebrand of its USL League Two Team". South Georgia Tormenta FC. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  20. Zimmer, Amy (29 July 2019). "Historic season for Tormenta FC 2 comes to an end". WJCL. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  21. Popkin, Jackson (8 May 2019). "A South Georgia Tormenta FC Guide to the 2019 U.S. Open Cup First Round". Dirty South Soccer. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  22. Sullivan, Tim. "2019 US Open Cup Round 2: Nashville SC holds off pesky South Georgia Tormenta 2". TheCup.us. Retrieved 30 January 2020.

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