Q&A with South Georgia Tormenta FC’s Darin Van Tassell, Mike Panter
Image credit: South Georgia Tormenta FC
Ahead of their launch as a founding member of USL League One in 2019 — during which they will continue to field a League Two team as well — South Georgia Tormenta FC founder and president Darin Van Tassell, vice president of soccer operations (and former PDL co-director) Mike Panter and USL League One vice president Steven Short spoke with Soc Takes on how the creation of League One benefits market such as Statesboro, Ga., and clubs like Tormenta FC with professional aspirations.
DARIN VAN TASSELL, TORMENTA FC FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Colton Coreschi: You and your colleagues founded Tormenta FC as a PDL club ahead of the 2016 season with the intent to grow a surprisingly hungry-for-soccer market in Statesboro, Georgia, and have been successful by any measure in that endeavor. How crucial is the founding and 2019 launch of USL League One to the continued trajectory of growth of the club?
Darin Van Tassell: It’s everything, of course. But let me step back and start the story at a different stage, because the story of Tormenta FC in Statesboro, Georgia, is bigger than simply a soccer story. I had been involved with the International Baseball Federation from 1989-2010, and during that time I was fortunate enough to be in three Olympics, two World Cups, 4 Continental Championships, and 2 World Baseball Classics, and I was able to travel to over 40 countries during this time. So while the IBAF is a smaller international federation when compared to FIFA, their missions are the same: use the power and global language of sport to build bridges among the peoples of the world through such competitions. That experience helped me understand that sport is more than just entertainment. And when you couple that experience with what I was witnessing in terms of the growth of soccer in the United States, I knew we could do something big. The USL’s Premier Development League was an ideal place to begin, and there is no question that the USL League One and USL League Two organizations fit this precise mission as well.
The story of building a franchise – much less in university town like we live in – is certainly akin to raising a child. Netra and I are both active owners. She has an incredible business mind, and between the two of us, we hit the ground running. Everything we did had to feel and give the appearance of a professional organization. So when we opened up on the road in May 2016, we went from not having a team name and any players eight months earlier to having fans dressed in Tormenta FC colors and official apparel traveling on the road six hours away to watch us play our first match. You better believe we were both smiling. Now our fans get to welcome the storied franchises of Orlando City and Toronto FC to Statesboro.
Our mission statement is “Pros Start Here” and now we can add to that “Pros Are Here.” We seek to put our players in a position to climb the professional soccer ranks. But we also seek to create an environment where members of our front office staff and our executive team will be able to migrate on to the higher professional ranks as well. That is important to all of us here. Whether one works and plays for the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Bulls, the Dallas Cowboys – or Tormenta FC – I believe that everyone in our organization has to have the same skill set of professionalism and understand how to grow a franchise. The scale might be different in these organizations, but our processes should be identical.
CC: The revitalization of the Division III space in U.S. soccer provides an opportunity for clubs like your own to serve undervalued, smaller markets that don’t meet current Division II criteria, but are too big to remain solely focused on short-season amateur play. What advice do you have for cities like Statesboro that would follow a similar path? What are some unexpected benefits and pitfalls you encountered on your journey?
DVT: Part of the reason for basing the Tormenta FC franchise here was because Statesboro is ready to be a “minor league city.” That brand means something to a community that is on the rise like ours. Our mayor, city council, county commissioners, university personnel were all graciously on board. Statesboro is a much more cosmopolitan place than people living elsewhere get to appreciate, quite frankly. There are over 27,000 college students in our three institutions here (Georgia Southern, Ogeechee Tech, and East Georgia College), and when school is in session, the population of Statesboro pushes 100,000 during the work week. Georgia Southern University is the economic engine in our area, but the fans of our franchise reach well beyond the university – and that’s really the testament to the game of soccer. Our fan base is stretches to Savannah and Hilton Head, South Carolina and out to central Georgia and Augusta as well. Sports tourism is economic development – which makes it big business – and college towns like Statesboro understand that reality all too well. And when one is reminded that we are playing soccer in a college football town, it’s a real testament to the fan base in the area. We do love our sports here in South Georgia.
As for advice for others and lessons learned, my small insight is that process matters. Our business is the experience business. We knew that going into this, and everything we experienced along the way just confirmed it time and time again. We use the game of soccer to create amazing experiences. That lesson can never be lost on us, because it is the most important thing. And the most important thing IS the most important thing. The people running the video boards and TV production are just as important to the franchise as the attacking midfielder and GM are. Relationships matter. Take every cue you can from best organizations out there. Model your organization after theirs. It’s a difference of scale not a difference of kind. Every detail matters. And remember this: it’s about the community and the people in the organization – it’s not about you.
Ultimately, the franchise exists to win championships and be a successful business enterprise. Building our own stadium and the entities surrounding the stadium is certainly part of our formula. And as we grow the youth side of our club, having that path for all in our franchise makes for an exciting organization. Great things await, and we still feel like we are just getting started.
MIKE PANTER, TORMENTA FC VICE PRESIDENT OF SOCCER OPERATIONS (FORMERLY PDL CO-DIRECTOR)
CC: You had a helping hand in building both League One and League Two, the latter of which you helped run for the past five years. How was League One built to help serve clubs like Tormenta FC and their desire to improve? How will League Two change to help accommodate markets like Statesboro that wish to progress ultimately to a higher level?
Mike Panter: I think it goes without saying that USL League Two is the key factor in Tormenta FC having the opportunity to add a League One team to the club. If you would have asked soccer fans three years ago, “What do you think about a pro soccer team in Statesboro, Georgia?”, I think you might get more, “Where is that?” rather than, “Absolutely!” League One is giving us that platform to introduce Statesboro to the professional soccer ranks for the first time. When Tormenta and Statesboro are being mentioned in the same breath as cities like Orlando, Toronto, Greenville and Madison to name a few, that’s a huge compliment to what this club and city can and has achieved. We’re not here to just make up the numbers, we’re here to compete and win championships. We’re going to do it with our own formula, our own vision, and we’re bringing Statesboro and the South Georgia region along with us. That is what USL League One is providing our club: the chance to rub elbows with major cities in North America on a professional stage. This step into League One isn’t available if League Two did not give Tormenta FC the platform to showcase the potential of Statesboro and South Georgia.
CC: Tormenta FC will also continue to field a team in USL League Two (formerly the PDL) in 2019. How does the addition of a professional team atop the club structure benefit the pre-professional League Two team and what are some challenges you anticipate facing?
MP: Before I accepted the position here at Tormenta FC, I asked Darin what the plans were for the League Two team. To be honest, I think not having a League Two team when you have a professional team is doing that club and its community a disservice. Why would you not want 24-26 hand-picked, elite players playing in front of your professional coaching staff day-in and day-out? Sure, not every player is going to sign a professional contract. But to not even have that as an option, for me, doesn’t make sense. So once Darin confirmed that not only are they keeping the League Two team, but that it is an integral part of Tormenta FC’s structure as a whole, that’s what sold it for me. I want to help build something in terms of player development that this country hasn’t seen before. I wish I could share some of those details and plans, but I’ll have to save those comments for another day! What I can share is: Tormenta FC is going to continue to grow and it will continue to put the focus back on youth development and the community.
Operating two teams will come with its fair share of challenges, the main one being how to make sure every game runs smoothly. Our main focus in the front office is making sure our fans have something to be proud of when they leave the stadium each game. Our League One roster is going to be using many players that have played for Tormenta FC during previous seasons in League Two, so the consistency and loyalty is there for everyone to see. Every player on our League Two roster knows they have a chance to impress the League One coaching staff every day they step on the pitch for training or a game. I think aside from game-day operations and running two teams, there are challenges we can’t predict. However, having both a League One and League Two team is something that other clubs will be looking at how we pull off. We’re the first and only League One team with a League Two team under our club structure for the 2019 season. Challenge accepted.
STEVEN SHORT, USL LEAGUE ONE VICE PRESIDENT
“There is no doubt that USL League One will benefit from the path to success in which the USL, soon to be the USL Championship, has experienced and the platform USL League Two has to promote and develop professional players. The Championship, in particular, continues to grow at unprecedented rates, while teams continue to attract more supporters and viewers in their local markets and throughout the soccer industry. We are witnessing this movement as more than 2.7 million fans have entered USL stadiums this season.
“USL League One will blaze its own path, though, as the foundation of professional soccer, providing valuable opportunities to players, coaches, referees and executives looking to start their professional careers or fine-tune their craft while delivering the pro game to fans in new markets that do not have access to a local professional soccer club.”
(Editor’s note: Make sure to check out Part I of this story, which explores how USL League One and NISA are bringing pro soccer back to the Division III level.)
Follow Colton on Twitter: @cjcoreschi.
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