Tormenta FC

In an effort to extend our knowledge of all of the leagues who are a part of the beautiful tapestry of lower league soccer, we reached out to Tormenta FC in Statesboro Georgia. Bernadette O’Donnell, Director of Communications and PR took our questions to the appropriate people involved in the various aspects of the club and came back with insightful answers to help us learn more about the club from South Georgia with big ambitions.

Tormenta FC was founded in 2015 and began play in 2016 - why were you founded, what is your mission... and tell us about your amazing bird badge! 
“I was 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, four Continental Championships, and two World Baseball Classics. I traveled 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 people 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 League Two was an ideal place to begin.” Tormenta FC Owner Darin Van Tassell

As for our crest and story, “tormenta” is the Spanish word for storm.  In the club’s crest, there is an ibis with cloudy skies and waves underneath.  Where the story gets interesting is the meaning of the ibis. On the surface, the ibis is not one that strikes fear.  But when you do a little research, you’ll come to find out that this bird is as fierce as they come. The ibis is the last bird to flee when a storm is about to hit.  Once the storm has passed, it is the first bird to return back to the area it fled. 

Not only is our background story unique, but it embodies what our organization is all about. At our club, we have hard-working people from top to bottom. This includes our owners, front office staff, players, and even fan base. We do not shy away from challenges. We actually invite them. Leadership and paving the way, the Tormenta way, is our identity. We’re committed to showing the rest of the country that our way of building a club is the best way.

In 2019, your first team bumped up to USL League One as the leagues shuffled, then your organization introduced Tormenta 2 in the division you had just vacated - had this always been a part of the plan, or did the league realignment provide a new opportunity?

With the addition of our professional team, it was always the plan to keep our USL League Two team running because it serves as the connecting piece between our Academy and pro team.

This allows us to not only give Statesboro professional soccer but to continue promoting our elite amateur players.  It was very important for us to keep our USL League Two team as this provides our region with a clear pathway to the professional game.

Learn More: https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/987720

https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/1019320

https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/1076615

While your League One side finished mid-table, a few solid players stood out; Marco Micaletto, Alex Morrell, and Pablo Jara. Can we expect them back in 2020 and will first team opportunities for guys like Kobe Perez, Daniel Strachen, Luca Mayr or JJ Donnelly, who led your League Two side to the top of the table, be available? Does USL allow you to move players from roster to roster during the season or all moves supposed to happen during the offseason?

“We have 11 returning members from the 2019 team, including Pablo Jara, and Marco Micaletto.  We have signed Luca Mayr to the League One squad and believe he will be a huge addition. JJ is continuing with Greenville Triumph, who signed him in August. Daniel Strachan, along with so many of the other League Two guys, have so much potential and will surely land somewhere when their opportunity comes.  We’ll be signing players from Tormenta FC Academy to train with the first team and could make the odd appearance off the bench or in an Open Cup game.” VP of Soccer Operations, Mike Panter

Tell us about the Ibis Foundation - what is its relationship to your club and what has been its largest success so far?

The Ibis Foundation’s main goal is to grow youth soccer across the board.  While developing elite players is always the goal of the Academy, the Ibis Foundation looks at ways to help get new players involved, reduce barriers to get quality training out to different areas of South Georgia and the Low Country.  Whether it’s programming where we provide the coaching aspect for a low cost, that’s helping the mission of the foundation.  Soccer has seen a huge rise in participation from a grassroots level.  There are so many different levels of competitiveness and there is a place for anyone at any skill level.

You can read about the Ibis Foundation’s biggest success here: https://www.tormentafc.com/news_article/show/1013970

Currently Tormenta is listed as playing on Eagle Field at Erik Russell Athletic Park, but I read that the club is pursuing a new location. What will your new home look like and when can we expect to see you move into it?

Beginning in 2021, we will move into our new 5,300 seat stadium. Once our stadium is built, we will also house the Men’s and Women’s soccer teams for Georgia Southern University. The stadium plans accommodate big events like concerts and more beyond just soccer season.

“We’re planning and designing the stadium that will be great for us and for the city over the next 25 and 30 years from now. And that takes a minute because you want to get it right. But I can tell you from the developer’s side, it’s all moving 100 percent as fast as it can,” Darin Van Tassell.

https://www.wtoc.com/2019/10/24/tormenta-fc-owners-give-update-new-stadium-retail-shops/

To try to keep up with Tormenta FC, check out their club website: https://www.tormentafc.com/

Green Bay Voyageurs FC

So who are you and what's your soccer story?

My name is Ben Kurowski and I am the General Manager of Green Bay Voyageurs FC of USL League Two. I never grew up playing soccer but my cousins played collegiately so I was around the game growing up. My fandom really took off during the 2010 World Cup when Green Bay native Jay DeMerit made the USMNT. I attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and worked in the athletic department. It was there that I had the opportunity to work with Dawn Crow who is the head coach of the women's team. Dawn played at North Carolina alongside Mia Hamm and was part of a class that went 97-1-1, capturing four National Championships in the process.

Can you tell us about the Voyageurs and how it came to be?

The Voyageurs are owned and operated by Big Top Sports & Entertainment, the same group that owns and operates Forward Madison FC in USL League One. The team was announced in October 2018 and we kicked off on May 31, 2019 at the brand new Capital Credit Union Park. Our goals are be community oriented and to bring a high level of spectator soccer to Northeast Wisconsin.

Love your logo/branding, who designed it and what is the story behind the name and crest?

We have to pay a strong compliment to designer Matthew Wolff who has was the designer behind some well known teams, including MLS' LAFC NYFC as well as the Nigerian National Team and PSG. Our name was suggested and voted on by the community. The name Voyageurs pays homage to the french settlers who landed on the Bay in birch bark canoes which is reflected in our crest. One of my favorite elements of our badge is our word mark, which takes inspiration from iconic Wisconsin brand word marks.

What approach does a League 2 side take? What's the focus of the club?

From a technical and soccer side we want to develop college athletes and help them take the next step towards professional soccer. Our focus off the pitch is the be community oriented and be a part of the local soccer community as well. We want to create unique and fun atmosphere for fans.

What has the club done to connect with the local soccer community?

We are always looking for new ways to help the local soccer community as much as we can. One of the ways that we have been able help out is the offer our field to the local clubs for training and games. The weather in Wisconsin has been less than favorable this fall and our turf field has been a great opportunity for the athletes to still get games in before the snow hits.

Green Bay is seen as a football town because of the Packers, is there a place for soccer and have the Voyageurs found it yet?

We as an organization believe that there is a place for the soccer in Green Bay. There are numerous youth clubs and teams and our high school teams have found great success. The sport continues to grow in the area and we are excited to be a part of it. Until 2019 Green Bay did not have a high level of spectator soccer and we are excited to be a part of the growth in the community.

Much is made of the divide between the other amateur leagues and the USL system, how do you see that difference?

With our connections to USL we are solely focused on USL League Two and advancing players to the next level. We know that other amateur leagues look to do the same.

Several clubs have jumped from the NPSL to League 2 this offseason, do you think the level of play is similar and should more clubs consider this type of move?

I believe USL League Two provides an opportunity for athletes to continue the path to professional soccer. USL League Two has a strong reputation of their alumni taking the next step in their careers.There are 201 USL League Two alumni competing in MLS in 2018 and 322 in the USL Championship for a grand total of 523 active alumni. During the 2019 MLS SuperDraft, 61 former USL League Two players were selected by MLS clubs, making up 81 percent of all players chosen in the draft.

What Green Bay players should fans know about?

With our roster being made up of NCAA athletes our team will change from year to year. Looking to this past year brothers Nick and Anthony Markanich of Northern Illinois were featured on the Top-100 players to watch in 2019 and had great success with us in 2019.

Anything else we should know about your club?

We are excited to be back in 2020 and are looking to build upon our success in 2019 and make a playoff push in 2020.

Vancouver TSS Rovers

While we’ve covered men’s programs here, and women’s programs there, we’ve yet to get a two-for-one in a Spotlight; well, wait no longer. Protagonist has reached out to our Canadian friends in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the TSS Rovers organization to tell us a little bit about both their top women’s and men’s sides. Brendan Quarry, TSS Academy co-owner and Girls’ programs technical director, answered the email and sent in a few photos for us to see what they’re up to, up there.

Tell us about TSS Rovers - what does it stand for? What's your organizational mission? When were you founded and when did you add your top men's and women's teams?

TSS Academy has been around since 1997. We are the most established soccer academy in the province of British Columbia. In addition to providing supplemental training in our indoor soccer facility, we also run a soccer club called TSS FC, which started in 2011. We have girls’ and boys’ teams ranging from U11-U18. As an evolution of TSS FC, we wanted to have a level of adult soccer to which our youth players could aspire. That's what started the TSS Rovers. We purchased a PDL franchise from the Washington Crossfire back in late 2016 and fielded our first Rovers men's team in the spring of 2017. A year later, we decided to do the same on the female side and purchased a WPSL franchise for the spring of 2018.

TSS Rovers Men’s program competes in USL League 2 against some of the most competitive lower divisions sides in the region.

How many of your youth players transition to the top squads? Are you dependent on that development funnel or do you bring in polished men and women players from outside the program to fill out your rosters?

In our first year of the PDL, we weren't able to transition any youth players since our oldest boys’ team at the time was U15. But in our 2019 season, we were able to field 3 of our youth players ranging from 15-16 years old. Obviously, they weren't starting players at that age but they were able to get invaluable experience training with the men's teams and getting some playing time minutes. In fact, our 3 youth players received 450 minutes of playing time last season. In the coming years, we plan to field more and more male players from our youth system as our oldest boys are now at the U18 age.

On the female side, we could field many more players who originated from our youth system since that part of our program has been fielding U18 players for the last 8 years. As a result, our 2019 Rovers WPSL squad had 11 of the 20 players come from our youth system ranging in age from 17 to 25 years old.

Did TSS Rovers see an increase in attendance during this World Cup year? Do you have a group of supporters outside of the natural interest from within the club?

We wish that could have been the case but no, we did not see an increase. There's a real challenge in our soccer community to get people interested in supporting soccer beyond the immediate interests of their own child's participation.

We do have a supporters group called the "Swangardians" in reference to Swangard stadium out of which the Rovers play. These supporters use to attend Whitecaps games when they played out of Swangard stadium before they joined the MLS. When these supporters heard about the Rovers bringing soccer back to the iconic stadium, they came out in support with much fanfare. I've attached a photo of the Swangardians.

The Swangardians, supporters named for the stadium in which they express their support, do show up to boost the Rovers squads

Which league do your men play in and what league do the women play in? Do you put those on par in terms of relative competition? Do both squads get equal travel accommodations?

The Rovers men's team play in USL 2 (formerly PDL). The women play in the WPSL. The WPSL is considered a tier 2 league since the only league above it is the NWSL professional league. USL 2 is considered tier 4 since there is USL League 1, US Championship, and then MLS in that order. That being said, we now have the CPL (Canadian Premier League) which is having its inaugural season. That is the Tier 1 Canadian league so the Rovers men are just below that.

The teams get equal accommodation but the women's league has half the number of games in the playing season so it's more manageable financially.

Have you had any players or coaches move on from TSS Rovers to play in a fully professional organization? Have any coaches taken the reigns elsewhere and manage their own clubs?

Yes, we had 3 players from our Rovers men's squad selected into the CPL, which is a significant achievement. So, in reality, we had some players step directly from USL 2 into the status of professional soccer player. None of our coaches have left the club.

The Rovers’ WPSL side competes at the highest level available, aside from the NWSL, in the region and battles Seattle’s Sounders women as well as Vancouver Whitecaps’ women.

Generally speaking, do clubs have an obligation to job placement or helping players advance to new opportunities? Do TSS Rovers help young players find colleges or trials with professional clubs?

The vast majority of Rovers, both men and women, are either already playing university level soccer or they're graduates of that level. We do a great deal to help our U17-U18 players play at that level. In fact, over 90% of our grade 12 players have been recruited to university level soccer. In terms of professional clubs, our main goal is to push these players to higher levels of the game. We regularly communicate with CPL coaches on the progress of players. In fact, our Rovers coaches attended the CPL combine last year.

For more information about TSS Rovers

For more information about WPSL

For more information about USL League 2