What’s the true story behind ‘You Gotta Believe’? How Fort Worth baseball team made history

While the world was watching him, Robert Ratliff couldn’t take his eyes off the crowded bleachers.

The then-12-year-old was playing in the biggest game of his young baseball career — the nationally televised semifinal match of the 2002 Little League World Series.

Ratliff and his 11 Fort Worth teammates were in a grudge match against a tough Kentucky team. The game had run late into the night. Everyone was tired and still no victor prevailed.

But everything stopped for a fleeting moment as Ratliff checked the crowd again. He saw his mother, his brother and his dying father.

“I can’t help but think, and now I’m a parent, I know all they were thinking was, I love you, and I’m so proud of you,” Ratliff said.

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Ratliff’s story and Westside Little League’s 2002 World Series run are the subject of a new movie , “You Gotta Believe,” which is out in theaters now .

The film follows the true story of the Fort Worth team’s journey to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and the quest for a world championship. Luke Wilson, Greg Kinnear, Patrick Renna, Sarah Gadon and Molly Parker star in the film.

While the film chronicles the team’s run, it’s heavily focused on Ratliff’s family and his father Bobby’s melanoma diagnosis. Bobby underwent cancer treatment during the 2002 season, occasionally even missing appointments to watch the team play.

Westside rallied around Bobby and took his motto, “You gotta believe,” to heart. The team faced elimination 11 times and won every game during the 2002 run.

However, in the semifinal round, Fort Worth lost 2-1 to Kentucky in 11 innings. Bobby was there for the team’s final game but died the following year, in 2003.

Now 22 years after the historic run, director Ty Roberts and screenwriter Lane Garrison chronicle Westside’s Cinderella season and Ratliff’s story in “You Gotta Believe.”

“To have that image of me looking up into the stands and seeing my family there, seeing my dad, who was pretty sick,” Ratliff said. “That was a neat moment that I’ll never forget.”

How did this Fort Worth story end up on the big screen?

The journey to get “You Gotta Believe” to the big screen started several years ago with a letter to “Apollo 13” director Ron Howard.

Jon Kelly, the coach of the 2002 Westside team, said his wife somehow found Howard’s contact information and sent him a note about the Fort Worth story. Needless to say, Howard did not write back.

A few years later, Kelly invested in the Fort Worth-based sports film — “12 Mighty Orphans” . It was through that production that Kelly met producer Houston Hill, who was intrigued by the Westside story.

Ratliff remembers getting a phone call from Kelly, inviting him to lunch and to discuss the possibility of a feature film. Ratliff showed up at the Kelly household, joined by Kelly’s wife, Kathy, and son Walker, Hill, and Garrison.

For a couple of hours, the group laughed and cried about that special 2002 summer.

“Told them about that summer and about my dad,” Ratliff said. “At the end of it, they agreed it was good enough to make into a movie.”

While the film would get the green light, Ratliff said he had a few reservations about bringing his father’s story to screen. At the end of the day, it came down to a few things.

If the film could inspire family members or married couples to reconnect and work through a difficult time, it was worth it. If the film could also strengthen people’s relationship with God and get people dreaming again, that would be another plus.

Ratliff said the finished project checked off every box.

“I think everybody did a great job,” Ratliff said.

Filming “You Gotta Believe” and meeting the cast

While “You Gotta Believe” is based in Fort Worth, a majority of the movie was filmed in Canada due to budgetary reasons.

Ratliff, who still lives in Fort Worth, said he made a couple trips up north to set. Every actor his family met was friendly, especially the child actors to his 2-year-old son Wyatt.

Greg Kinnear, who plays Coach Kelly, and Luke Wilson, who portrays Bobby Ratliff, took their roles seriously and were courteous to the family, Ratliff said.

“[Wilson] was just mindful of how hard this was on us,” Ratliff said. “I think he did a really good job playing our dad.”

“You Gotta Believe” chronicles Westside’s run to the Little League World Series and the 11-inning grudge match against Kentucky in the semifinal round.

The film takes a few creative liberties with the true story, such as portraying the squad as a team of misfits like in the “Bad News Bears”, Kelly said.

It was likely more impactful to show the team going from rotten to great, and Kelly said he still enjoyed the flick plenty.

“We were a good team, but we absolutely got better at every level,” Kelly said. “By the time we got to Williamsport, we were really, really good.”

Westside Little League’s legacy 22 years later

In the over two decades since Westside’s historic run, the team’s impact is still felt.

Keith Covert, who was Westside president from 1990 to 2019, said the league saw an increase in sign-ups and sponsorships after the 2002 run. Much of the donated funds were used to upgrade the league’s complex at 417 Rockwood Park Drive.

Rob Semple, who was president from 2019 to 2024, said the team’s story is told every year to coaches in the league’s youngest division to show how the Little League World Series works and how many games each team has to play.

“We have all of their old banners hung on the wall in our trophy room,” Semple said. “We use it as kind of a teaching moment.”

Westside’s run is now immortalized in film and Ratliff’s just happy to see his dad’s story on screen.

The film showcases the Westside community coming together and that’s exactly how it went down in real-life. Parents, kids and coaches rallying together against improbable odds.

It all took a little belief.

“Community is so important,” Ratliff said. “Having a strong community can make or break when you go through something challenging.”

“You Gotta Believe” is in theaters now.