Kokou Assigbe

✝▪👪▪⚽ UEFA B

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

⚽️Parents, your sideline behavior matters more than you think.

A player who’s about to graduate from our program shared that when he was younger, he used to feel relieved getting subbed off…not because he was tired, but because he didn’t have to hear his dad from the sideline.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

⚽️Parents: your player’s development doesn’t fall solely on the coach or environment, though both matter.

It’s also on your child’s focus, ability to learn & apply, and mentality…

And on you holding them accountable.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

To the parents of competitive ⚽️ players:
Let your kid stay in their age group, or play up instead of dropping to their school grade.

If changing the age structure isn’t in the best interest of MLS Academies, it’s not in your child’s either.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

If you’re a parent of a child between 1-6 & want them to become a good ⚽️ player, it starts with you.

Create an environment where the ⚽️ is always around, something they can play with freely like any other toy.

Make the game part of your family life: Watch, talk,& bond over it.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

To the ⚽️ Parents whose child is on a 20-30 player roster just because the team plays in a “prestige” league for “exposure”:

You’re doing your child a disservice if they aren’t playing regularly.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

The best thing about⚽️?

Being good doesn’t have to look one specific way.

Some players shine with skills.
Others with their passing.

Different players, same outcome.

The common denominator?

Technique+understanding.

So ⚽️parents,stop wishing your kid played like another kid.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

Smaller clubs are the backbone of player development in 🇺🇸.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

Dear ⚽️ Parents,

Your child’s ⚽️ journey doesn’t have to be this complicated or stressful.

It’s not about exposure. It’s about loving the game & actually being good at it.

When they’re truly good and ready, you won’t have to chase opportunities, they naturally come.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

When the people in charge lack these fundamentals skills, we end up wasting the potential right in front of us. And instead of doing the harder, slower work of real development, we take the easy way out, using winning as “proof” of progress.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

To develop a player, the people responsible for that player must have the knowledge, the eye, and the understanding to identify what the player has, what they are missing, and what steps will move them to the next level.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

@kieronbutton17 Unfortunately, in the U.S. some parents think you’re not coaching if you’re not shouting something at the players every moment.

Kids need to bear the responsibility of executing game plans without being reminded every second.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

That’s it @landondonovan!!
The change starts with parents being educated about what youth ⚽️ is about.

[Alex Ruiz @AlxRuiz15]

Landon Donovan has been vocal about his passion for wanting to see change in Youth Soccer.

I asked if he would be interested in a leadership position in U.S Soccer - he said he wouldn’t rule it out. He wants to see change culturally around the development of players

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

⚽️Parents, you’re not helping your kid when they come off the field complaining about their teammates or coaches & you immediately support them.

Hold your kid accountable for THEIR responsibilities.

Supporting them is how you raise a child who’s always looking for a scapegoat.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

@landondonovan make this a daily discussion. The change has got to start with parents education, not the kids. More of you, former players, need to be sharing your journey and educating parents.

[SportsCenter @SportsCenter]

"I want to give the game [of soccer] back to the kids." 👏

Former USMNT star @landondonovan joins the @RichEisenShow to discuss the changing landscape of U.S. men’s and youth soccer ✍️

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

Culture. Many folks on this app have spoken a lot about the culture that is required to develop top players.

It doesn’t start with a coach or a team. It starts at home with parents.

It’s not forcing kids into⚽️, but when the home lives the game, the kids will naturally love it.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

@BiscuitsDad30 🎯

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

⚽️ culture in 🇺🇸 is about what makes parents happy. We create new leagues, tournaments, & whatever is necessary to appease parents. It’s not about the kids & what they need, so we can’t expect a better national team when the system is not about developing players.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

@SavingGraceSC We can’t have a player we’re not being asked to create. Everyone is bent on this idea that we just need our best “athletes” to play ⚽️ for us to dominate, so everyone is looking for the best athletes.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

@MCameron008 The difference in game understanding & decision making makes all the difference.

Vitinha in that 1st half completely toyed with the U.S. team. He constantly found the passes to break the press & cut through the team.

The U.S. players couldn’t read where the ball was going next.

[Kokou Assigbe @KAssigbe]

At some stage of the game, a player’s physical qualities must support their technical ability if they want to excel beyond a certain level.