A brief "who to follow" guide for Tormenta fans

 We're going to get to what happened with Tormenta and what the plans are for 2026 soon, I promise. But for now, the season starts this weekend and I'm not sure what to do with my time that I'd planned to spend watching games this season.

I could work to develop better relationships with my family and friends, or take up a hobby or develop a skill that I've always wanted to learn, but that sounds like a lot of work when, instead, I could kick my feet up on the couch, enjoy a cold beverage and watch some USL1 games like I was going to do anyway. 

But who should I watch? And why? I don't know. And if my blog post ended there, this would have been a waste of your time. Fortunately, some kindhearted souls were willing to help me out. I asked some of the people covering USL1 teams not to convince me to become a fan of their team, but why I should follow their team in the upcoming season. You know when there's three games happening at once and you're trying to decide who to watch. Well, hopefully this will help you out.

Rob Chappell, 608 Soccer Show. Forward Madison. 

I really feel for you, Luke. Losing Fuego and NoCo was hard enough, but Tormenta was one of the OG teams of League One! They were here back when Lansing wore orange and Ricardo Pepi was embarrassing everyone. Given that history, I understand you might be torn between following one of your fellow OGs and following one of the exciting new upstarts. Well, why not both? Forward Madison has been competing in League One since the beginning but turned over its entire roster except for one guy, so it’ll basically be an expansion team on the field. Not only that – our new sporting director, Matt Cairns, has signed a whole team full of guys you’ve never heard of. Mr. Mingo Derek Gebhard is the only guy coming back to FMFC, but he’s also the only guy who’s ever played in League One. We’ve got a 6’5” Ivorian striker who’s played against Mbappe. We’ve got a loanee from Panama’s top flight. We’ve got the son of an indoor legend. This could be the greatest team League One has ever seen or it could be 2023 Fuego level of disaster. Combine that vibes-and-chaos potential with the well-established supporter culture, veteran coaching staff and cows in the stadium, and you can’t go wrong. 

(Note from Luke: I learned this offseason that a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance, not a flock, so I was glad to see Rob changed the name of his podcast, but now I'm wishing it somehow included the word flamboyance.)

David Adams, Tumbleweed Times, AV Alta

 Do you love high-possession football?  Do you hate sleep?  Do you want residual good memories of Tormenta after they beat us a combined 5-0 last year?  Stay up late and catch some AV Alta games!

AV’s expansion side burst onto the scene last spring, with a 10-game unbeaten streak, a uniquely high-possession style for USL1, and a hyperactively passionate supporters’ group going nuts in our beautifully-converted baseball stadium.  Then everything fell apart & we dropped from 2nd place to 9th, one point out of the playoffs.  This offseason, a couple of the brightest stars departed for the USLC, & AV retooled almost entirely with young, under-the-radar prospects.  Projecting 2026 is a complete mystery.  Best case scenario, Alta ride the momentum from a hot preseason, Jerry Desdunes rises to USL1 stardom (& maybe makes Haiti’s World Cup squad), the defense tightens up, and we’re talking about playoffs.  (While wearing some sweet jerseys.)  Worst case scenario, AV’s system doesn’t evolve enough to mitigate opponents becoming familiar with their possessive style, the xG numbers look like the late-summer slump, and any intrigue centers around some youngsters’ future. 

Here’s the clincher, Tormenta fans – AV gets some great early matchups.  From March 21st to April 11th, Alta face Portland, Chattanooga, Omaha, and Boise at home, plus fly to Spokane for a midweek matchup.  You don’t have to commit to our 8 PM PT summer kickoffs yet.  Just tune in and try us out.  Maybe you get desert-based tiki taka.  Maybe Yaniv Bazini pops out of nowhere to score a brace against us again.  But you’ll be able to gauge us against top-tier competition right from the jump.

Shawn Fecteau, The Friggin Soccer Show, Hearts of Pine

You want vibes? Got’em. You want aggressive pressing football? Got it. You want Goals? Finished 2nd in the league last year on Goals For. Talented Charismatic Players? Yeah, we have those too. Large energetic crowds setting a proper soccer atmosphere? Meet the Dirigo Union. 

Get your popcorn ready, because the Hearts play entertaining football.  Hearts of Pine are ready to apply pressure, intercept the ball or break the ball loose on a midfield tackle, then they’re looking to get vertical quickly to score. Our midfield returns fully intact and we’ve two playmaking wingers in Ollie Wright and Jay Tee Kamara coming in off the edges with our second year striker Titus Washington looking to have his breakout season in terms of goals scored. 

Our defensive line has been bolstered with USL All League One second team CB Brecc Evans, and the return of our right wing back Jayden Jones Riley. Our brick wall Hunter Morse between the sticks had the most saves in goal last year and is back for another year in net.

Turn into the match on 3-14 at the Cosmos and watch some 500+ Hearts away supporters back the boys and welcome the Cosmos to League One with some Hearts of Pine tough love.  

Turn up the volume and listen to the Dirigo Union set the ambiance of a sold out Fitzpatrick Stadium home match. Drink in the player goal celebrations with the Dirigo Union through the hazed red smoke in the stands.

Come on the ride of the 2026 Hearts of Pine.  Raise a fist and shout it out loud, “My home is here, at Fitzy Park!!! So we say up, the fucking Hearts!!!” 

Kyle Prewett, Pitchside Peregrines Podcast, Athletic Club Boise

Arguably the most exciting new team to join USL1, AC Boise isn’t joining the league for participation’s sake, they’re here to win. It feels like everything about this team has been aggressive. We were only formally announced by the ownership and the USL in October of 2024, and here we are a year and a half later, and the club has turned an old horse racing track into a soccer stadium, and we’ve built a team many fans feel will compete for the title already.

Boise has had an interesting relationship with soccer over the last decade or so. It’s always had a strong youth soccer presence, but it didn’t seem like a place that was prime for a professional team, at any level. Then, the Basque Soccer Friendly was held on The Blue in 2015, with Athletic Club Bilbao facing off against Club Tijuana during Jaialdi (the City’s Basque festival held every five years). Over 20,000 people went to the game, and it seemed this was a harbinger for the potential for professional soccer in Boise. In 2020, Boise attempted to build a brand new minor league baseball stadium on the edge of downtown. There were many benefits to the stadium. It would spearhead development in an area of downtown ridden with brownfields and underutilized properties in an up-and-coming area. The stadium would be owned by the City, which is a key component to many successful new stadium development projects. It would help keep our once official short season single-a Chicago Cubs affiliated baseball team, the Boise Hawks, affiliated with the team, as their current stadium is a bit of a dive and in desperate need of some TLC (the Hawks are now an independent league team, surprise surprise). Most importantly, the developers had a deal with the USL that would bring a USL soccer team to Boise once the stadium was built.

However, this proposed public-private partnership to build the stadium failed, essentially derailing our then Mayor’s political career. But hope for professional soccer in Boise didn’t die with the failed downtown stadium project. The future owners of the Club had, what turned out to be, a very effective Plan B, a for all intents and purposes abandoned horse racing track at the county fairgrounds. Due to a repeal of Idaho state law in 2015 that had allowed for the horse racing track to utilize instant-racing terminals (gambling) to keep the horse racing industry in Idaho alive, the instant-racing terminals were closed, and the race track shut down shortly thereafter. Other than for concerts during the county fair, the 75-acre site sat unused, until 2023. In 2023, Ada County announced that 50 acres of the site would be turned into the best public park in Idaho, and in 2024 it was officially announced that the remaining 25 acres would be developed into a professional soccer stadium and soccer training facilities.

As I mentioned previously, the team was formally announced in October of 2024, the groundbreaking for the significant stadium refurbishment was held in March of 2025, and we are playing professional soccer in Boise on April 4th. A bit of a whirlwind 18 months or so.

To reinforce Boise’s commitment to the team, fans broke the USL record for season ticket deposits of 6,500, and I believe this has translated to over 5,000 actual season tickets being sold. We have an interesting ownership group that includes former Vice President of the Board of the US Soccer Federation, Bill Taylor, former Millwall and USMNT legend, Kasey Keller, and current NWSL legend, all-time assist leader, and Boise native, Sofia Huerta.

Regarding the team itself, we’ve put a new spin on the word loyal. One-quarter of the current roster played for head coach Nate Miller with the San Diego Loyal (Nick Moon, Blake Bodily, Charlie Adams, and Tumi Moshobane). The rest of the roster is built to fit Miller’s preferred three at the back, high pressing system with the likes of Denys Kostyshyn, former Porto and Fluminense player Luan Brito, and the penalty saving master, Javier Garcia Jr.

This season is lining up to be quite the exciting one for lil ol’ Boise. Just like our Boise State Broncos, this team is going to punch above their weight, and surprise the soccer community in the US who couldn’t find Idaho on a map, let alone Boise. And who knows, maybe there’ll be a friendly with our namesake, Athletic Club Bilbao, on the books for the next Jaialdi in 2030.

Alex Ashton, River City 93, etc, Richmond Kickers

Do you enjoy coming into each season with a ton of unknowns? Of course you do, you’re a Tormenta fan! Why not continue this feeling by cheering for the Richmond Kickers?

Will they be good? Like Tormenta winning the playoffs and Richmond winning the league in 2022, the stars could unexpectedly align and it could happen. 

Or will they lack chemistry and flounder out? See Tormenta and Richmond in 2023. 

Will they give you some late season hope but inevitably fall short? See Richmond in 2024 and Tormenta in 2025.

Point is, these two teams have had similar trajectories in triumphs, disappointments and false hope. This season, Richmond brings in a lot of players looking for comebacks, looking for a springboard back into higher levels and some newcomers. It could work out and push Richmond back into the top half of the table, or it could simply not work out. We could see more players sold on to higher levels after stellar first seasons or after regaining their form. Or they all depart for free agency after disappointing.

It kind of sounds like Tormenta’s plans nearly every single year. The transition should be easy.

Brian Biedenbach, Fort Wayne Footy, Fort Wayne Football Club

Fort Wayne, Indiana is a small city in a flyover state in an often overlooked part of the country. But soccer fans around the USL are about to discover that our city is one of the best kept soccer secrets in the states. Our youth soccer teams compete every year on the national stage. We have sent players, both men and women, to compete for their national teams at the youth and senior levels. And Fort Wayne Football Club has done nothing but win the last three seasons in USL League Two. We know soccer in Fort Wayne and we play to win.

Ollie Gage, Sporting Director, and Head Coach, Mike Avery may very well have assembled the youngest, most inexperienced, and most dangerous team in the league this season. With an average age of barely 24 years (once the final roster spots are announced), this roster is young and hungry and full of fire power. Leading the way on the attack will be Lilian Ricol and Clarence Awoudor, teammates from the University of Central Florida who put up a combined 20 goals and 19 assists last season en route to a Sunbelt Conference Championship and a second round appearance in the NCAA tournament. Add to that attack, Jack Thomas (2025 NAIA Player of the Year), who put up 20 goals and 12 assists of his own last season at LSU Shreveport. Maybe you’ve also heard of Ryan Becher who tucked 9 balls into the back of the net for Union Omaha last season.

By the way, if you’re counting, that’s 49 goals out of just 4 players that would have put them among the best goal scoring teams in the league in 2025. And we haven’t even mentioned Taig Healy (NC State) and Daniel Oyetunde (Arsenal Academy) who have proven to be clutch scorers in their own right. 

As potent as that attack could be, true to any Mike Avery coached team, it will start with a stingy back line that won’t give opponents many chances to get in on goal. Returners Tiago Dias and Reid Sproat  are good in the air, good with their feet and always looking to break you down with a single pass over the top or straight through the middle. But they have added the height of Columbian defender, Juan Solís (6’8”) and the experience of long time pro, James Musa to shore up any potential gaps that could exist in the middle, thus freeing up outside backs Hernandez, Rempel and Smith to get up field and involved in the goal-scoring party on the other end of the pitch. 

Fort Wayne FC may be unproven but they are a powder keg of potential. So if you are searching for a team to support this season, open your map, find Fort Wayne and put a pin in it. 

Many thanks again to everyone who helped out here. I honestly don't know who I'll be following, but I am certain that if there are multiple games happening at once, the more exciting game will be the one that I'm not watching at that particular moment. 

Have a good weekend and, as best you can Tormenta fans, enjoy the season.