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Born in the Peach State and raised in Rincon since age 3, goalkeeper Sydney Martinez has known soccer as a warm-weather sport.

That all changed this month when the Southerner signed her first professional contract and headed north. Way north, above the Arctic Circle, to Bodø, Norway.

Martinez, 23, with a lifetime in balmy locales, had an adventurous change of heart after her agent said that IK Grand Bodø – one of the oldest clubs (est. 1917) in Norwegian women’s football – needed a goalie.

“I said, ‘You know what, I said I wouldn’t go cold, but let’s go cold, let’s experience something new, let’s see some snow,’ ” Martinez recalled during a March 18 interview from Norway.

Under the category of watch what you wish for, Martinez said it had snowed a little every day since she arrived, leaving plenty of work for the plows.

“There are piles of snow 10 feet tall, taller than me, on the sides of the roads,” said the 6-foot-1 keeper. “I got to play outside when it was snowing on Thursday, so I can check that off my bucket list. So that was pretty cool.”

Martinez admits she likes to keep warm year-round, even wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants in T-shirt weather. Now she’s learning the small yet important details of cold-weather soccer, like wearing wool socks and the ball hurting more on impact. At an outdoor training session, she did some jumping jacks while the ball was on the opposite end.

The team, whose season opens March 26, plays home games in an indoor facility but practices outside for road games as league opponents use outdoor stadiums.

She’s adapting to the weather as well as a new team, new league, new land, new everything. She’s ready to experience the culture and has picked up a few basic words of Norwegian.

Martinez said it’s been her dream to play pro soccer since she started in sport as a little girl. She has risen through the ranks from youth programs such as the Statesboro-based Tormenta FC Academy to all-state honors at Effingham County High School and second-team All-American and more accolades from 2018-22 at the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she graduated in December with a degree in business management and minor in criminology.

When she did travel internationally one time as part of the U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program as an ECHS junior, the destination that spring was Brazil. She recalls it was about 80 degrees and probably hotter back home in Effingham.

She excels in the heat of the moment, and no better example was last summer, when she led the South Georgia Tormenta FC women’s team to the championship of the inaugural USL W League season.

Martinez stopped a penalty kick in extra time en route to a 2-1 victory over the host Minnesota for the title.

PHOTO: Sydney Martinez, W League MVP - South Georgia Tormenta FC goalkeeper Sydney Martinez was given the MVP award of the USL W League final after a crucial penalty save in the 110th minute that kept Tormenta in the game against the Minnesota Aurora on July 23, 2022, at TCO Stadium, in Eagan, Minnesota

Tormenta coach Jim Robbins said in a statement that it was “a pleasure and an honor” to work with Martinez.

“She proved she was the top GK in the USL W League in 2022 by leading her team as captain to the USL W national championship, in addition to winning the Golden Glove, Finals MVP and being named USL W Best XI,” said Robbins, noting the Golden Glove honor as top goalkeeper, a first for any Tormenta women’s or men’s team. “She will be a tremendous professional player and will have a bright future.”

Martinez also became the first female player out of Tormenta FC Academy – where she played about seven years – to sign a pro contract. It’s the logical next step after exceling in the W League, which Tormenta categorizes as a “pre-professional pathway” for college and high school players.

There are more goals out there for the goalkeeper.

“Honestly, it’s been my dream to play on the U.S. national team for as long as I can remember, so that’s probably still my top dream,” she said. “But I’m fine playing anywhere that needs me. I feel like I’m the type of player who can adapt to any situation. I’m the type of person who can adapt to any culture I’m put in.”

Sydney Martinez, W League MVP - South Georgia Tormenta FC goalkeeper Sydney Martinez was given the MVP award of the USL W League final after a crucial penalty save in the 110th minute that kept Tormenta in the game against the Minnesota Aurora on July 23, 2022, at TCO Stadium, in Eagan, Minnesota.