As one of only three cities in Georgia home to a professional sports league (you heard that right), Statesboro has been making impressive strides to better welcome soccer fans and sports fanatics to The City That Soars. Tormenta FC, the professional soccer league that calls Statesboro home, is rolling out a new stadium.
Just before the summer of 2015, Darin Van Tassell, three-time baseball Olympian and a Georgia Southern professor at the time, recognized Statesboro’s massive potential to become a professional sports town. With a bustling college student base and locals who loved where they lived, the fan base was already intact. He chose to pursue soccer for its universal recognition.
“Soccer wasn’t just the biggest sport in the world. It was probably the biggest anything,” says Darin.
After assembling his team, they became Tormenta FC, “Tormenta” being the Spanish word for “storm” and chose an Ibis to display on their team crest, a bird known for its bravery and ability to withstand powerful storms. The team hosted their first press conference in the Visit Statesboro lobby and got to work perfecting their talents. In 2018, Tormenta FC played their first professional soccer match.
Now, after nine years as a team and six years of play, Tormenta FC will get a new home stadium right here in Statesboro as they continue to build their legacy and welcome new fans into their community.
The stadium completed in phase one of development will serve as the centerpiece for a brand new, 300-acre entertainment district, which is still under wraps. The stadium stands next to The Clubhouse on Old Register Road and has a capacity of 3,500 for the 2024 season. Once completed, Tormenta Stadium will hold 5,300 seats while also having the ability to expand to a capacity of up to 14,000. The goal is for this to become a space capable of bringing much larger events to Statesboro like large concerts, professional sports, and collegiate events in the Southeast.
“This is our way of bringing the exact kind of experience you would expect from a major sports team in Atlanta right here to Statesboro,” says President Darin Van Tassell, co-owner of Tormenta FC. “Food, music, art and sport are the four main sectors a community grows around,” he explains. And the new complex promises to bring all four.
Through a partnership with Romeo Entertainment Group, the soccer team will bring food, live music, sports and accommodation amenities all to one spot, completely transforming the visitor experience. Apartments, a live music venue and a brewery are all expected to begin making headway as the complex moves into phase two of development. As for food and retail, Publix and Starbucks are already on site as anchor tenants, as well as Chick-Fil-A joining them recently.
“The experience starts with pro soccer, up close, in a stadium designed to make fans feel the action, and it ends with the experiences and memories they take home with them,” says Darin.
