I was driving down Fair Road on a stereotypical impossibly hot summer afternoon in 2015 when my phone rang. The call was coming from Darin Van Tassell, so I assumed that he wanted to talk about Georgia Southern baseball, a new development at The Clubhouse, or possibly re-congratulate me for the dominant academic performance I had displayed in his International Studies class nearly a decade prior.

It turned out that he had bigger concerns than the imminent threat of exponential growth in the global population I heard about from Professor Van Tassell.

But growth was on his mind – specifically, bringing a soccer franchise to Statesboro. A week later, South Georgia Tormenta FC was officially announced to the world.

Fast forward a little more than seven years and Tormenta has gone from a vision, to a concept, to a semi-pro squad on the fringes of the United Soccer League, to a professional organization. And that professional organization will take to the pitch at their newly-minted, though not-yet-finished, stadium on Sunday evening to host a national championship match.

This story would be a fairy tale for nearly any other town. For Tormenta, a professional team and a championship opportunity seems more like an inevitability.

During that introductory press conference, Van Tassell stated that the team was going to win games and win championships. That was before Tormenta had its name, its now-ubiquitous navy and magenta colors, or even a player to call its own. Less than three years later, Tormenta was celebrating a Premier Development League division championship and a postseason berth. Months after that, Tormenta expanded to the professional ranks to become the first announced team of USL League One. 

Mind you, Tormenta is a team in, by far, the smallest market by any measure of League One professional teams. But that reality has never factored into Van Tassell’s goals for success or growth.

And now, Tormenta sits on the precipice of that championship first spoken of in 2015.

But for all the League One side can accomplish on Sunday, Tormenta has become so much more.

Tormenta FC didn’t just build a winning team. It has created - from scratch - several winning teams, a USL W League national champion, a brand and a soccer culture in Statesboro and surrounding areas that simply didn’t exist before.

When you attend a Tormenta game, many of the jerseys worn by kids in the stands aren’t just souvenirs, but rather their official kits as members of Tormenta’s expansive youth academy. And the team that will compete for the title on Sunday has featured players from both the youth academy and the club’s League Two side that have given the professional squad a pipeline for talent without having to look outside of the culture it has built.

There is a brand new stadium - now open, but still growing - that will not only house Tormenta and Georgia Southern teams, but will also bring additional commerce opportunities to town, along with hopes of hosting high-profile collegiate and professional events in the future.

And there’s now another team that Statesboro residents can take pride in - watching them copy the likes of Georgia Southern football and going from an introductory press conference with not much more than promises and dreams to the doorstep of a national title.

Empire building might seem like an overzealous description of what the organization has accomplished in less than a decade, but it’s hard to argue otherwise.

Tormenta enjoys on-field success with all of its teams. The club has galvanized fans and players alike within the coastal empire. It has growing attendance, a well-represented “Cat 5” supporters group, and a vibrant presence and following on social media and across nationwide soccer platforms.

And now Tormenta is one win away from bringing Statesboro something new – a professional sports championship.

I should really give Van Tassell a talking-to. This is exactly the sort of runaway growth he was trying to warn us about back in the day.