Robert Rosario: The Master Motivator, Mentor & Friend

Simply put, Robert “Bobby” Rosario has lived the dream. Having played for his country, competed in Europe’s top league and boasting an illustrious professional playing career that spans nearly two decades, Rosario’s journey to become one of the game’s elite embodies every youth soccer player’s dream.


His ascent to the game’s top level began as a self-proclaimed “blue collar kid from the streets of London” where he worked up the ranks eventually earning trials with the U-19 and U-21 English national teams in the late 1980’s. Coach Bobby spent 14 years in England’s top flight competing for Norwich City, Coventry City and Nottingham Forest.


Rosario signed for the Canaries around Christmas time in 1983 and made his league debut on April 7th 1984 against Watford where his home side welcomed him to the league with a 6-1 victory. His first goal for Norwich City came just two weeks later in the spring 1981 in a 2-2 draw with Stoke City.


Like many former elite athletes Rosario reflects on his professional career with bittersweet memories and is hesitant to rehash his “glory days.” His humility regarding his playing career is endearing especially when it would be easy to flaunt in a country lacking in soccer tradition.

"I don’t really talk about it too much and because it was in a different era you didn’t have the coverage you do nowadays. With the media now you know everything about everyone. I turned pro in 1983 which was a long time ago. The soccer was still great but it was a different time- a different philosophy, a different mentality.


It’s more of a business now. You can’t get near the players, they’re not accessible. Twenty years ago you could have a drink with a David Beckham in the pub. On the way home from the away games our team would order fish n chips and sit in the pub while we were waiting for our food. If there were fans there we would sit with them! We’re talking about an entire professional team! You would not do that now. Especially eat fish and chips after a game. So it’s just a different time.”


With more than a decades’ worth of memories in the world’s most challenging league, naturally Rosario struggles to pinpoint his favorite moments as a professional player.


“I played 250 games in the Premier League and it’s hard to pick one moment out of the whole time. That winter in 1983 when I signed my professional forms was a big moment. Obviously earning my spot to represent my country at U-19 and U-21 is something I am very proud of particularly because only 20 guys out of 65 million make it.”


His first goal of three in a 4-4 draw against Southampton on September 9th 1989 was voted Goal of the Year and can be seen here:

“Goal of the season was awesome because only one person a year wins it. So that was nice, the bad thing is that they didn’t let you keep the trophy. They didn’t even give you a little replica or nothing!"


The various trophies, honors and awards aren’t what Rosario views as his biggest achievement. As the cliché goes, it’s hard to reach the top, but it’s even harder to stay there.


“For me as a player and person it was an achievement to me to become a professional in England. To survive for 14 years demands serious commitment from anyone. If you know any professional sports person, just to make it is an achievement. Even if you play semi-pro or collegiately you are aware of how difficult it is just to get to that level. It gave me a chance to travel the world and meet some fantastic people and for the road to end up here has been great.”


For any aspiring player, the road to the next level is paved with challenges that often require a player to reinvent his or herself.


“As a youth player, I was one of the best players in the country. I was always successful, but never was asked to captain a team. I was the funny guy on the team, but when I was 28 and with Coventry I was made captain for the first time. Doing the coin toss with Mark Lawrenson of Liverpool who was on the England Team at the time, with mom and dad in the crowd was a huge honor. That was one of the most rewarding and most humbling moments for me to lead my team against Liverpool that day for the first time. I didn’t know I had the skills to be a captain in my personality before and I did. I changed from being the funny guy in the dressing room to being the one my teammates turned to when the tough questions were being asked in the heat of battle."


Rosario continues, "Then leading my team out on the pitch at Old Trafford a few weeks later (we were 5th in the table at the time) and the opposition’s captain was Steve Bruce who happened to be my captain when I was with Norwich. It was surreal to walk out in front of 50,000 screaming fans alongside him.”


Rosario retired from Nottingham Forest and spent 18 months rehabbing injuries that “just couldn’t be fixed.” This ultimately led Rosario to the United States for an opportunity to continue his own development in the game for the Carolina Dynamo and Charleston Battery respectively.

Rosario competing in the 1989 FA Cup Semifinal at Villa Park vs Everton

“I came over here for more advanced rehab and then I got embroiled with the Carolina Dynamo thinking I was going help out with coaching and ended up playing. The reason I was able to play was because they allowed me to train only once a week on the Friday, played the game on the weekends and then rehabbed the rest of the time.”


After the time spent with the Dynamo, joining the Charleston Battery opened up a new angle of the game for Coach Bobby as he got his first taste of coaching.


“(Head Coach) Nuno Piteira asked if I could help him out a bit because he was struggling with the personalities on the team. I hadn’t coached a lick in my life and I kind of took over the team from that point. Next year I got my coaching badges done and absolutely loved it. At times I felt like I was a better coach than player, so I continued and got my A and B licenses in one year.”

Q&A with Coach Robert Rosario


What would you say is your coaching philosophy?

“My philosophy is basically that there is no grey area when I coach. I think everything is subjective and each coach has their own way. There are quiet coaches and loud coaches, but either way it’s what you are saying matters. You have to be loud for the kids to hear you and you also have to have enough conviction in what you’re saying. We have to coach them a lot at the early ages, then the dynamic shifts as they get older where we have to coach less. For me, a good coach is like being a good teacher, you have to have the ability to get to someone to do something you want them to do and understand why. Clarity in your communication is pivotal for a player’s development.”

Rosario working with a NMSC player

To be able to successfully develop players and for them to fully understand the concepts of the game, takes a certain level of respect and trust and requires a relationship between player and coach. Coach Rosario never underestimates the power of that dynamic.


I am very demanding but I am hard as I am soft. I believe the coaches that got the best out of me often came out of nowhere to make a very important point and keep me on my toes. When I thought I was great, I got pulled back down to reality. When I was down on myself, they lifted me up. My favorite coaches were people that I hated and loved at the same time. They impacted my life because I wanted to succeed not only for me, but for them as well. So that’s what I try to recreate as a coach."


Although his instruction was received in a different era and club structure, Coach Rosario looks back to those coaches that helped shape his coaching mentality that he employs with his players today.


The coaches of my era were cutting edge because they didn't have the resources that are offered now. I’m really fortunate to have played 5 or 6 coaches that were international coaches. In England, we have a manager and a coach. The manager is the puppet master that makes everything work, while the coaches handle the training, so many of my influences weren't big names. The guy that had the most impact was the coach that signed me, Mel Machin. He handled most of our training at Norwich. Mainly he scared everyone, but was very intelligent and way ahead of his time. I use a lot of his former sessions with my teams now.


Since joining the staff at North Meck SC in November in 2008 Coach Bobby has coached three teams that have been crowned Classic ‘A’ Champions, taken on multiple boys and girls teams in the NCYSA Premier Divisions while also founding our Denver Recreational program which has now grown to nearly 300 members.


"Initially, it was a group parents that prompted us to start the league. At that time there, we had some players in our competitive program that told us that there was basically no soccer for them out there aside from a few small leagues here and there. So we viewed this demand for the game as an opportunity for the club to pursue. Denver United Methodist Church was kind enough to open their doors and offered us a facility and we were off and running with about 160 players in the first season. The support we have from the community, the volunteer coaches and church is tremendous. I am excited to see the growth of the game in this area and how far we can go in the coming years with the full support of our staff here."


What is your favorite thing about the sport?


It’s simple; it’s the most exciting sport in the world and the history of the game in unlike any other as well. If you've ever been to a live game you know the atmosphere alone is amazing. As a spectator sport at a live venue there I don’t think there is a better game to watch. If you've ever been to a local Derby or something like that the passion is very obvious. The buildup and the anticipation are almost palpable. It’s electric. All your senses come alive when you play this game at the highest level.


What is your favorite type of player?

I think as coaches you are drawn to players that remind you of yourself. One thing I would like to pass on to all my players about my playing experience it would be work ethic. Hopefully, that is what has transpired through to my coaching philosophy. You get to a point in this world when your realize that there is always going to be someone bigger, stronger, faster, smarter whatever but what everyone can do is have that work ethic. As a coach if you’re telling someone to do something and you've done it personally then it counts a bit more. That’s one thing I demand from my kids no matter what level of ability everyone can give the same effort.


What is the best part of being a youth coach?


We are part of the team of parents, teachers and sports coaches so the influence you can have negatively or positively depends on the coach. Knowing that you can positively affect someone’s lives is the greatest part of being a youth coach. And more often than not it’s a sports coach that has had an experience that will stick with the individual forever because when you are in a social environment like sports, we’re not just teaching from books. We’re outside on a street level where you talk about more aspects of life rather than specific subjects. That ability to affect a young man or woman’s life is something we have to take very seriously.

What is the toughest part about being a youth coach?


We basically go for 12 months out of the year with the way soccer is set up in the country. If you’re a good coach you never stop thinking about the game, the players, and then you’re available to the parents and players 24/7 basically. When you work with 50 or 60 kids a season, just a few minutes per player ends up being a lot of time when you add it up across a few months.

Rosario pictured (left) with his U14 NMSC Premier team

What is your favorite part about working for North Meck SC?


Most people know I’m a single father and it’s been amazing how much North Meck has become an extension of our family. The ability to have my son and daughter by my side while I do my job has been more than I could ever ask for and they are so happy. I have no family in the area so my supporting cast is the club. Everyone has taken part in the past three years in helping me as a single dad. The support I get from the parents of NMSC is fantastic I couldn’t do it without them.