Mr. Jones and Me

Sam Jones making his first professional start
Photo Credit: Tormenta FC

Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky

When everybody loves you, oh son, that's just about as funky as you can be. 

(I just realized that song came out in 1993, my freshman year of high school, so for my younger and, at this point, even middle-aged readers who don't get the reference, here you go. The release of that song is closer to the Beatles coming to America as it is to today and I now want to crawl under a rock and hide from the relentless onslaught of time.)

Sam Jones became the first player to rise through the ranks of the Tormenta Academy to start a game with the first team Saturday night as he got the nod in goal in South Georgia's Jagermeister Cup match with Greenville. 

"Honestly, I tried to play it cool a little bit when Ian (Cameron, Tormenta's Manager) told me," Jones said of his reaction to getting his first start. "I was like 'alright, sounds good,' you know. Just playing it cool like I haven't been waiting on this for forever. I just started wrapping my head around it and started preparing mentally and starting thinking about the game."

The Benedictine Military School (Savannah, Ga.) graduate joined Tormenta Academy in 2016 and went on to play his college soccer at Winthrop University before returning to Tormenta. He signed his first professional contract last season with South Georgia, but didn't see any game action sitting behind Ford Parker and Drew Romig on the goalkeeper depth chart.

Parker and Romig moved on after last season and while Tormenta brought in Austin Pack to handle the starting goalkeeper duties, Jones has worked to keep himself ready. He got his first taste of professional experience in the waning minutes of the US Open Cup opener against Harbor City FC before getting his first start on Saturday.

"Before the game I was thinking back to my junior year in high school where we would play Furman United in a league game and they were in first and we were in second and we went there and we beat them five-nil," Jones said. "I was just thinking that Greenville, that Furman area, we've had this rivalry for a really long time so it really means a lot to me to be an Academy player and to get a derby win against Greenville."

Jones said his first phone call was to his parents to let them know the news. He then called his girlfriend and family and friends.

"To be quite honest, this is purely from merit and the way he's trained and the way he's embraced the roles," Tormenta Manager Ian Cameron said. "I think last year he very much felt like a first-year pro, but this year, he's really excelled." 

Cameron was quick to credit Tormenta's ownership as well as the Academy directors and coaches who put in the work to develop players like Jones and others.

The nerves never fully went away throughout the game, Jones said, but that's what he expected.

"I don't think whenever you play any game, your first game, last game, that the nerves ever fully go away because that's what keeps your sharp," he said. "But they definitely ebbed and flowed. We had moments of the game were we suffered and we bound together and the nerves were there and we had moments were we were dominating and doing really well and then you can relax. So it's just about managing the nerves to the game."

Jones had a dicey moment late in the first half when he was called for a foul in the box as he was rushing out to try to clear a ball. 

"I think when the referee looks at it, he might have a different opinion of what the outcome of that call should have been," Jones said following the match. "I'm pretty sure I got there first and he came through my calf."

Despite that, Greenville's Evan Lee would miss the penalty, pushing his shot wide left and not on frame.

"The penalty was outside the box so he made a really good decision not to go out with his hands. He had good spatial awareness of it. I think he got there first as well," Cameron said.

That was a moment, Cameron said, that could have led things to go differently for Jones throughout the remainder of the match. However, that wasn't the case.

"The biggest thing I'm proud of is after that moment, to then have a flawless performance after that kind of action on your debut, really well done." 

Greenville would score late on a counterattack following a Tormenta turnover, but Jones and the squad would see out the final minutes for a victory.

That would be Greenville's only shot on target all night, but Jones was able to direct the defense and start the attack from his goalkeeper position.

"Even playing out of the back at the end there, that's not easy to do," Cameron said. "And to have that peace of mind to thread a lot of passes out, job really well done." 

Mason Tunbridge, who scored twice for Tormenta in their 2-1 win Saturday, was excited to see Jones get his first start and get the win.

"Sam works hard every day. He's a great teammate to have, a great person on the field and off the field," Tunbridge said. "I'm buzzing for him. I think he's going to get a big round of applause and a Gatorade poured over him in the locker room." 

(The pedant in me is compelled to point out it was likely Powerade as it is a Coke product and Coke is a sponsor of Tormenta. If Coke or Powerade would like to thank me for pointing this out, please contact me about sponsoring this blog.)

Tormenta is off this week before retuning to action next Saturday against Spokane.