Roffey Robins Atletico celebrate as their journey comes to an end

Football can be a relentless sport sometime. It seems to operate on a hamster wheel where one season ends, there is an international tournament, pointless pre-season tours and then it all starts again. In youth football, the feeling can be similar. Seasons tend to finish in April, and teams will train and play in tournaments through to July and then after a short break will start again towards the end of the school summer holidays.

At a youth level that provides some routine, guaranteed exercise and fresh air, away from games consoles and phones. It also provides coaches with a ready made excuse to avoid some of the tasks at home that might be piling up. That relentless journey continues, until it suddenly ends. And this year, that was the case for Roffey Robins Atletico, and all the other junior Under 16’s teams that play in the Horsham and District Youth Football League, as that stage of their footballing journeys came to an end.

Last weekend, the Atletico team came together for one last time with parents and families to celebrate what they had achieved over their last nine years as a football team. It was an opportunity to reflect on friendships that had been made and to thank the manager, coaches and parents committee for everything that they had dedicated over the previous nine years. Most importantly it was to thank all of the parents for transporting their children around the District to play football, often on cold, damp mornings where the duvet was certainly a more attractive option.

Atletico was formed as a team for the under 8’s age group. It was borne of the Roffey Robins under 7’s team, where the squad became too big to give players enough game time for seven-a-side football, and so Atletico was formed. The manager, Ricardo Moratalla, was Spanish, and on the suggestion of his father, the team adopted the Atletico moniker.

As a team, their main focus was on player development and enjoyment. They never compromised those values in order to chase success. The fact that six of the squad have been with the team since day one, and another five have been part of the team since Under 10’s is testament to that. In the first few years, every player was given the same amount of playing time, no matter what their ability. If a player could dribble through a whole team and score, they would get the same amount of game time as someone who got distracted by planes or clouds. The initial leagues were non-competitive, although a friendly rivalry was established with Heron Way. Every time the two teams played, the games were so close but almost without fail. Heron Way would sneak a win. The games were always played in the right spirit, they had a good management team as well – but no matter what, somehow, they would come out on top.

Perhaps the team’s greatest success was winning the Horsham Youth League Plate Competition in 2019. Their journey to the final included victories over Hassocks Seagulls and Brighton and Hove Albion Girls. In the final they faced East Grinstead Mead, and despite going a goal down, they won 9-3, with a quick-fire Romario Moratalla hat-trick knocking the stuffing out of the opposition and seeing the team on to victory. The sunny spring day in Ashington will live long in the memory.

As well as the league and cup fixtures, there was always a focus on creating memories for the players. They had a training session at the Chelsea FC training ground in Cobham and got to play in tournaments at Stamford Bridge and the American Express Stadium. The team also spent a weekend at St George’s Park, where the England Teams gather for training before big games. That was the week before the first Covid lockdown, where the team had a training session led by an FA coach and a tour of the facilities, including the changing rooms which were an exact replica of the ones at Wembley Stadium.

The Covid period was a tough time for all young people but Atletico got through it with enthusiasm and team spirit. The glorious weather of that first Covid lockdown allowed the players to take part in daily zoom calls where Ricardo would put on drills that they could do in their gardens or living rooms. It gave the some consistency to their days, ensured they maintained social interaction, and built the bond between them. As soon as they were allowed to mix and play football again, the team were out at the first opportunity.

The Under 13 to Under 15 seasons were pretty tough going. The seasons tended to start and end quite well, but the team struggled in the mid-season period. That all changed for the final season when the team won their league. The season started as they often did, with a few wins, and this time Atletico kept it going. The most important match of the season was probably the first one they didn’t win. They travelled to Storrington without four first team players. With no recognised goalkeeper available the team was very much put together with square pegs in round holes, and despite going 3-1 down, they managed to earn a 4-4 draw. Crucially, that point was the one that saw them win the league, as they beat Chailey and Newick Colts by one point.

Manager Ricardo reflected back on the journey, saying “managing a youth football team is not an easy task, and certainly not one for the faint hearted. I have spent far too much time worrying about the impact of Duke of Edinburgh camping trips, bugs that are going around the schools and why I have been cursed with heavy rain on a Friday after a dry week which puts the game into doubt. Waiting for the Saturday morning text to tell me that someone has a headache, or a forgotten family day out that puts all of my plans into disarray. Of course, the pros far outweigh the cons. I’ve shared the joy of last minute winners, tight tense games where we have managed to eke out a win and I’ve managed a victory in the Plate and won a league. I’ve watched the core group of my players grow into young men. They have formed friendships that will last a lifetime that go beyond school friendship groups. They have learned about teamwork, dedication and how to deal with success and failure. All of these skills will set them up for their lives, whatever they choose to do. Some of these players will go on and play football elsewhere. All I can hope is that they find a team that values them as people and focuses on the process of improvement.”

He added “it has been the experience of a lifetime to manage this group. I’ve nearly loved every minute of it and to have had so many players who have stayed with the team for so many years really means a lot. It tells me that the way we have run the team, has been the right one. And this hasn’t been a solo job, I’ve had a great group of coaches that have worked with me and a parents committee to make sure that everything that we have done to make this footballing experience the best it could possibly be, has been done in the right way.”

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