Diksha Sundriyal
Ty Roberts’ ‘You Gotta Believe’ is a sports drama film that captures the true story of an underdog team that proved itself more capable than estimated by others. It traces the events that took place in 2002 when the Westside team beat one odd after another to reach the semifinals in an unprecedented streak of wins. However, the athletic glory found by the team doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the story. Its heart lies with Bobby Ratliff, the beloved coach of the team, who discovers that he has cancer. His desire to see the team make it into the Little League baseball and play to their best potential inspires the players to give it their all. His son, Robert Ratliff, is one of those players, and he takes his father’s message to heart.
Robert Ratliff Had a Stellar Athletic Record in School and University
Robert Ratliff was a preteen when he played in the 2002 Little League game as the first baseman. Even after his father’s death, he carried his love for sports forward. As a freshman at Sewanee University, he played as a quarterback in 2009. When he moved to Nolan Catholic High School, he joined the school’s team and helped them win several state titles. He started college at the University of the South but moved to Ole Miss in 2010, where he was on an athletic scholarship for his junior and senior years. There, he joined the football team, where he mostly served as a reserve quarterback.
When Robert graduated, he stayed back to work as a football coach at Ole Miss, working primarily as a graduate assistant and player personnel analyst. In the 2014 and 2015 seasons, he worked as an offensive graduate assistant. He is also a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. In his years at Ole Miss, Robert got a bachelor’s in managerial finance, an MBA, and an M.A. in Journalism. While he loved the coaching job and briefly even entertained it as a career prospect, he eventually wanted to settle down with his family in a more relaxed environment. So, he moved back to Fort Worth, where he continues to support young athletes in different ways.
Robert Ratliff Carries Forward His Father’s Legacy
Robert Ratliff lives in Fort Worth with his wife, Natalie, and their two children, Wyatt and Henry. As people of faith, the Ratliffs have a strong sense of community and attend the University Baptist Church in Fort Worth. On the professional front, Robert is a Vice President of CAC Agency, a property and casualty practice group, where he also holds the position of risk advisor. Before this, he worked for Wortham Insurance and Triumph Insurance Group and served as Vice President for TBK Bank. Apart from his family and professional responsibilities, he is also involved in the You Gotta Believe Football Camp as its co-executive director.
He set up the youth and high school football camp with his brother, John, and friend, Alec Mullarkey, in 2007. At the time, the trio were at Nolan Catholic High School and were on the school’s football team. They had to put it on hold for four years when they went to college, but they restarted it in 2015 and have continued to grow and expand it. The camp, which operates majorly in Texas and Mississippi, aims to inculcate the values in young people that will help them be successful in sports and life. They named their venture after Bobby Ratliff’s mantra, “You gotta believe,” which had an immense impact on the Ratliff brothers.
For Robert, these three words reverberated every day of his life, influencing his every action and decision. Inheriting his father’s mentality of always believing that good will happen and having faith no matter how dire the circumstances get has gotten him through some very tough spaces. He credits this philosophy as one of the major factors that have shaped his life. He also acknowledges the impact of the love and support from his community, which he and his family have received over the years, especially in the aftermath of his father’s death. This is why he is focused on working with the next generation and mentoring them to help them find their true potential and live their best life.
Robert Ratliff Hopes You Gotta Believe Helps Inculcate Family Values
While the 2002 Little League baseball game is one of the highlights of Robert Ratliff’s life, he wasn’t initially sure about turning it into a film, especially considering how emotionally heavy that time was for him and his family. When screenwriter Lane Garrison came up with the script, Robert wasn’t sure about reading it because he found it to be “too hard,” considering that those were “the last memories of [his] time with [his] dad.” Because it was the “last big thing” they did together, Robert didn’t feel comfortable sharing it with the entire world and felt the need to protect it. However, when he did come around to reading the script, he was compelled to change his mind.
Robert saw that the movie wasn’t just some sports drama about a young team’s path to glory. It was more about family and the love between a father and his sons, and this is what convinced him that the story was worth sharing with the world. Due to his family being at the center of the film, he was involved in the filmmaking process, though to a smaller extent. He also visited the film’s set in Canada with his family a couple of times. At the end of the day, he hopes that the story will bring together families and inculcate a sense of togetherness in the audience. His sentiments are shared by the rest of the team, with whom he is still in touch.
Recalling the summer of 2002, he has talked in several interviews about how the entire team and their siblings would get together and do everything together, from practicing baseball to enjoying pool parties to having meals with one another. The team members get together time and again, but most notably, they reunited in 2024 to celebrate the release of ‘You Gotta Believe,’ where they also met with fans and signed posters and photos. Speaking of that year of his childhood, Robert reminisced about spending time with his father, who was there for the team at every step despite his health struggles. He talked about how he wished his father had been there in key moments of his life and how it made him appreciate his family and his sons and be there for them.
Read More: Jon Kelly: Where is the Westside Little League Coach Now?
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