South Georgia Tormenta FC is proud to announce four additions to our Front Office Staff as we enter the 2024 season. Rich Flemings, Caroline Boykin and Tom Valcke will be joining our Franchise Development Department, while Talique Cobb will be joining the Ticketing and Fan Engagement Department.
Rich Flemings joins Tormenta FC as the Director of Production and Outreach after making the move from Nebraska. Flemings is well recognized throughout the USL League One community for his work as a co-host of the “League ONe the Rocks” podcast, which started in June of 2022. Rich has recorded, produced, and edited 60+ shows for the podcast as he promoted USL League One news and fan engagement.
From April 2023 to June 2023, Flemings was a contributor to US Soccer’s US Open Cup coverage, where he drafted match reports for online publication. He was also a writer for TheCup.US, where he started in April 2022. Throughout his time with TheCup.US, he has drafted match reports and developed compelling long-form publications that featured interviews and background stories with the players and personnel. Flemings is known for his coverage of Union Omaha matches, Player of the Round announcements and his article about the MVP of the 2022 US Open Cup Finals match.
Flemings started his USL League One coverage as a Staff Writer for Who Gives a Hoot Media in Aug. 2020. As a writer, he produced statistical analysis, background pieces, pre and post match wrap-ups, and interviews involving high-ranking personnel and players from Union Omaha. His efforts allowed him to follow Union Omaha’s historic 2021 season, as well as their US Open Cup run in 2022.
Tormenta FC is excited to launch Tormenta Productions during the 2024 season under Flemings, allowing fans to receive a deep dive into everything Tormenta FC. Fans, be on the lookout for more details to come on Tormenta Productions.
“I’m beyond excited to be joining the Tormenta Family. Getting to know the staff at Tormenta has taught me just how close knit they are, how success is shared, and how much they genuinely care about the club,” Flemings said. “I can’t wait for all of the exciting things that lie ahead for Tormenta fans, to greet them at the entrance to the stadium, and to see them out in the community. ¡Vamos Tormenta!”
Co-owner of Tormenta FC, Darin Van Tassell, spoke about Flemings saying, “I have known Rich for a few years now and have been featured on his podcast a few times. The professionalism he carries himself with and his abilities will guide Tormenta Productions and will be key to our development as a franchise in the coming years.”
Caroline Boykin also joins the Franchise Development Department as the Director of Marketing. Boykin is a graduate of Georgia Southern University’s public relations program and graduates with her M.A. in Mass Communication with an emphasis in public relations from the University of Florida in May.
Boykin eagerly returns to Statesboro, having gained marketing and public relations experience from an internship with Little Dog Agency during the summer of 2023. She secured media coverage from a variety of publications, designed social media graphics and videos, while managing the accounts of clients. She also created detailed digital marketing campaigns through the utilization of Meta, while tracking analytics to evaluate communication strategies.
Prior to her internship with Little Dog Agency, Boykin was a Digital Marketing Assistant for the University of Florida Performing Arts Department. During spring 2023, she designed social media posts, developed communication strategies, and designed branding guidelines for the Performing Arts Instagram.
Boykin has also completed valuable internships in the South Georgia region including, a Sales and Marketing Internship with the Tourism Leadership Council Savannah during the fall 2022, a Marketing Internship with Lesley Francis Public Relations during summer 2022, and a Public Relations and Marketing Student Assistant for the Georgia Southern Campus Recreation and Intramurals from 2021 to 2022.
“I am so thrilled to work with the powerhouse, South Georgia Tormenta FC,” said Boykin. “It is a privilege to come back to serve the Statesboro area and surrounding community. I am looking forward to an exciting season!”
Van Tassell said, “Caroline brought to us one of the more accomplished resumes I have seen. During the interview process, she highlighted her graduate capstone, and we were extremely impressed. We are excited to see what her experience in creating and executing communications and branding strategies will do for us during the 2024 season and beyond.”
Tom Valcke joins Tormenta FC as the Senior Director of Franchise Development. Valcke makes the move from Stratford, Ontario, Canada and brings a distinguished pedigree with 30+ years of experience in the baseball industry. He served as the General Manager for the Triple-A Baseball Team, Calgary Cannons, Executive Director and National Team Coach of Baseball Canada, President/CEO of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Master Course Conductor of the National Coaching Certification Program in Canada and Technical Director for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games along with three World Baseball Classics.
His historic background in baseball is how Valcke came to know co-owner of Tormenta FC, Darin Van Tassell.
“With the rapid passion for soccer evolving in the Americas, Tormenta Nation is a thrill-seeking, moving train that I was anxious to jump onto,” said Valcke, who started with the club on Jan. 4. “I had been studying Tormenta’s rise from the beginning, and while we are a member of the USL, in my view, we are ahead of some organizations regarding our strategy to embrace women’s soccer, to open soccer academies for all ages, promoting cultural inclusiveness in all of our programming, and in building our own stadium. I look forward to setting new bars with Tormenta FC, combining proven marketing fundamentals with state-of-the-art technology and social media, and taking our partnerships in the community to new levels that will widen the range of our fans and stakeholders.”
“I have worked with Tom previously in the baseball world, most notably in the Beijing Olympics in 2008,” said Van Tassell. “I am excited to have Tom onboard as he transitions from baseball to soccer. He is an extremely talented asset and is exactly the person we wanted leading our Franchise Development Department.”
Talique Cobb joins the club today as a new Coordinator of Ticketing, Sales, and Service. He was most recently a member of the Army National Guard serving as a Culinary Specialist. In this position, Cobb was responsible for ordering and inspecting food supplies, cooking and serving meals both in the field and at home stations.
The Morris College graduate brings experience to Ticketing and Fan Engagement having completed an internship with the Brooklyn Nets Ticket Sales Team. During his time participating in the NBA HBCU Fellowship internship, Cobb gained experience in the sales process from start to finish, received exposure to all products and learned how clients use the array of options that they are presented with. He was also a 2023 NBA Draft Guest Experience Coordinator at the Barclays Center where he showed guests their designated seating and guided them to their respective clubs the arena offered.
Cobb also brings leadership experience having been the Chapter President of the Morris College Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. from 2021-2023. During the spring and fall of 2022, he was the Chapter’s Dean of Membership. While at Morris College, Cobb also served as the Student Government Association President during the 2022-2023 school year.
“I’m excited for this wonderful journey and I’m humbly blessed,” said Cobb regarding joining the Tormenta FC Ticketing and Fan Engagement Department
“Talique was another person that impressed me during the interview process. He is eager to bring his internship experience from a large market like New York and implement it to South Georgia.” Van Tassell continued, “Talique’s charismatic and professional personality he displayed will be an important asset for us moving forward and we are excited to see what he can do underneath Alex’s (Wagner) leadership.”
Founded in 2015, Tormenta FC is a professional soccer club based in Statesboro, Georgia. Tormenta FC competes in the professional USL League One and the pre-professional USL W League, under the United Soccer League (USL), and has also established a thriving academy system throughout South Georgia and the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
Follow the club through Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), and the Tormenta FC app available on both IOS and Android.
