Atlanta United hosts Apalachee High soccer teams

Apalachee High varsity boys soccer coach Vegas McCain said there was a moment Wednesday, when the Wildcats soccer teams visited Atlanta United, that he will never forget.

Ronaldo Vega, one of the students who was shot during the mass shooting at the school Sept. 4, was talking to Atlanta United interim manager Rob Valentino when the 14-year-old noticed they had the same initials. Valentino took off his gear, which features “RV” on the tops and shorts, and gave them to the young man.

“For a lot of kids, soccer is their passion, and so to be able to go to the training ground and realize that it’s not just the community, but the community at large, it goes beyond just the boundaries of Winder, Georgia, that people care about them, it was amazing to watch, really,” McCain said.

Those were the interactions that McCain and Valentino and team captain Brad Guzan said they will take from Wednesday. Atlanta United invited the teams to its training ground to provide a sports refuge following the shootings at the school that resulted in two students and two teachers killed Sept. 4. Eight other students, including Vega, and a teacher were injured.

Valentino and Guzan said they may have gotten more out of the three-hour visit than did the 67 people – coaches and players from the varsity and junior varsity boys and girls teams, as well as some boosters – who attended.

“It’s inspiring when you’re able to be around other individuals, and you see the smiles on their faces,” Guzan said. “You see their ability to find joy in just being out here and watching us train, especially for those of us with kids.”

Atlanta United’s season hasn’t gone the way anyone imagined. It needs a win Saturday at Orlando, combined with two other results in other matches, to make the playoffs. The manager was fired in June. The vice president and technical director was fired in September. The team sold its two best players and replaced only one.

That has been a lot in terms of sports, but it hasn’t meant anything in terms of living, which was reinforced by Wednesday’s visit.

“There’s nothing we can do to make them feel better, but allowing them to come see the facility, come see training, and be a part of their process of getting back to finding joy in life ... was really incredible to see their faces and to see how much it meant to them to be around it,” Valentino said. “There was so much positivity coming from them. That was really infectious.

“Because we look at the position that we are in, unfortunately, in terms of the standings and where we are as a club right now, and it can be easy to get more doom and gloom, but they put a lot of things in perspective for us as people.”

The Wildcats players didn’t know exactly where they were going when they loaded onto some donated buses. Because they had to fill out field-trip forms, they knew they were going to something related to Atlanta United.

When they pulled into the training ground, Atlanta United employees were outside the front doors to welcome them.

As the kids entered the lobby, food and all sorts of Atlanta United gear in all sizes were there laid out for them to select. Atlanta United wanted no biscuits or jerseys left behind.

“When they ran out of shirts, they went and got some more shirts for the kids,” McCain said. The team may wear those Atlanta United jerseys and shirts at school this season instead of their traditional game-day attire that includes a dress shirt, McCain said.

Atlanta United hosts many groups during its season. Valentino, who has been with the first team since 2018, said he can’t remember any other time that the players spent so much time talking and interacting with visitors. Autographs were signed. Photos were taken. Guzan said they talked about jerseys and boots and things that teenagers are interested in. He said the players didn’t ask the Apalachee kids many questions. “What would they ask?” he said. They just watched as they enjoyed themselves.

McCain said every Atlanta United player spoke to every Apalachee player.

“It’s about trying to for an hour, two hours, three hours, let them take their mind off of the experience they had, and just kind of be happy and see the beauty in the game of soccer,” Valentino said.

It was an educational experience for some of the Atlanta United players who are from other countries. Guzan said some don’t follow local news and weren’t aware of exactly what happened at the Winder-area school. As it was explained to them, the looks on their faces and their reactions made it obvious how horrific the situation was.

The visit also reinforced to Guzan something that Valentino has stressed since taking over: be where your feet are. It’s a phrase that Valentino uses often to describe being present and enjoying moments. Valentino said it again Thursday when describing what he took from Wednesday’s experience and his message to the kids.

“You could see that the energy was contagious that they were feeding off each other, and they were just grateful,” he said. “They were grateful for to be on the field for a little bit, to just be around, and my message to them was, it’s really insignificant, to be honest, because like what they have gone through, no people should go through that.

“My own son goes to school, and they do these Code Red drills, and it becomes close to home because I watch how that affects him. It’s not something that probably any of us grew up going to school and having to do. This will forever change their lives, and that is something in itself, of how these people will move forward. This is something that I don’t ever take for granted, but it’s an opportunity that you can feed off each other and hopefully help in their process of moving forward.”

The trip also positively affected the teams.

McCain said Monday’s conditioning session for the pending season had two attendees. “Not good,” he said.

Wednesday’s session, the day of the Atlanta United visit, had half the team’s players. McCain expected more players Thursday.

He attributed some of that increased participation to Valentino talking to the kids about the importance of conditioning and how it sets the groundwork for a season’s success.

McCain said it’s too early to guess how the trip may affect his team this season. He and the other coaches understand that in every match they will be known as the team from the school where there was a shooting. He said two out-of-area schools were generous enough to visit two players who were shot – another was on the girls team – while they were recuperating in the hospital. Other schools want to give banners after every match.

McCain hopes that the moments can coalesce the team into a band of brothers.

“We’re all together. We can laugh, we can joke, we can talk about things. If they’ve got things to talk about, me and my assistant coaches are there for them as well,” McCain said. “We all have a common bond because of soccer. Now we have the Atlanta United experience as well.”

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Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup