Today at the PDL Winter Summit, Statesboro’s South Georgia Tormenta was named the PDL New Franchise of the Year for 2016.
Thank you for all the support to help us become 2016 @USLPDL New Franchise of the Year! #Path2Pro #ProsStartHere pic.twitter.com/l7cFKQeW0A
— @TormentaFC (@Tormenta_FC) December 6, 2016
Head coach and general manager Ben Freakley told Dirty South Soccer:
"Being named PDL New Franchise of the year is tremendous honor for all of us at Tormenta FC. For the fans, players and staff this will be a constant reminder that passion and professionalism is contagious."
The award does not cover merely on-field performance, but also includes success off the field. One sign of that work are some recently announced partnerships with European clubs. Tormenta signed “friendship agreements” with two small Italian clubs and an Albanian club. Owner and team president Darin Van Tassell told Mike Anthony of the Statesboro Herald:
“We’re wanting to grow the brand of Tormenta FC and this step into the international side of things is going to be great for everyone involved.”
Tormenta is also strengthening the youth side of its operation. Its U16 and U17 teams (formerly Storm Soccer Academy from Savannah) will travel to Italy to participate in a tournament and some friendlies. One product of the Storm Soccer Academy making waves in Atlanta right now is James Brighton. He is the leading scorer on Atlanta United’s U16 academy squad.
The future of soccer in South Georgia is looking bright thanks to the work being done by Tormenta FC.
It took an entire community to do this. Thank you Statesboro, Savannah, and South Georgia! @Tormenta_FC @boroherald @CityStatesboro https://t.co/ayCn9DXKnM
— Darin Van Tassell (@dvantass) December 6, 2016