Over the past decade, the primary goal for Dr. Brad Nein through organizations like Storm Soccer Academy has been to help develop the best young players in southeastern Georgia.

But with the arrival of South Georgia Tormenta FC to Statesboro, Ga. in 2015, first as a member of USL League Two and now as the inaugural club in USL League One’s history, the potential opportunities available to the players Nein now mentors as the Director of Youth Soccer Operations at Tormenta FC Academy are unlimited.

“It’s gigantic. There’s no other opportunity like that in this area,” Nein said by phone recently. “Charleston’s two hours away, Jacksonville’s two hours away, Atlanta’s four hours away, so to have something like that positioned right here where the top five players in the area can go and play on the League Two team, they’re getting this experience before they ever even get to college or sign a pro contract or anything along those lines.

“They’re 15, 16, or 17 years old and seeing the game and a speed of pace that most kids in America don’t get to see.”

It sounds simple, but that’s the impact the arrival of clubs like Tormenta FC can have on a region’s soccer community. With a professional club now at the top of the local soccer scene, the development pieces that were previously in existence can become part of that club’s structure to give a pathway to the top that before might have required a move to a city with its own path to the professional ranks.

While previously Storm Soccer Academy had an affiliation with a group in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Nein and his staff this spring fully committed to the Tormenta FC organization. The official launch of the club’s Academy program will arrive this fall, as will new recreational and elite programs designed to allow kids of all ages and abilities to play the game in an engaging environment.

But the first success story for the youth development program Nein leads has already arrived in the shape of Tristan Deloach, who in May became the first player to sign professional terms with Tormenta FC’s League One club from its academy. While Deloach had regularly been training with Tormenta FC in the lead-up to his signing, the swiftness of the move was still a pleasant surprise for Nein.

“For him to get that opportunity to put on the professional uniform and be on the field and all those things, he was a kid in a candy shop during the entire experience,” said Nein. “It was so good to see him have that opportunity to be among those professional players.”