Beyond the 11 · Episode 8

Football Starts at Home

with Tom Byer, Author, Soccer Starts at Home

13 minHosted by Shaun Harris & Kevin Meredith

Beyond the 11 episode 8: Football Starts at HomeWatch episode 8

The short version

Tom Byer on why youth development starts in backyards and recreational play.

About Tom Byer

Tom Byer
Episode 8

Author, Soccer Starts at Home

Tom Byer

  • Grew up in New York and has spent more than 40 years in Japan and Southeast Asia.
  • Played for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, then professionally in Japan with Hitachi from 1986.
  • Moved into coaching through Coerver, built his own T3 programme and wrote Soccer Starts at Home.
  • Works with football federations on youth development across Asia and beyond.
Football Starts at Home

Best moments

  1. Football is spending millions and millions of dollars trying to unlock what a five dollar little ball in the backyard would have solved.

    Tom Byer · Episode 8

  2. The ball doesn't know what nationality you are.

    Tom Byer · Episode 8

  3. Talent development is one hundred percent of the kids, not the zero point zero one percent that we need to identify.

    Tom Byer · Episode 8

Lines from the recorded conversation, lightly edited for length.

Clips from this episode

Short cuts from the conversation, straight from our Instagram. Tap a clip to play it.

Want the full conversation?

All reels on @id11_media

The question chain

Question one, left by Steve Sampson

"Who's responsible to identify and develop our top youth players? Is it US Soccer, MLS, or the best European academies?"

Tom Byer left this for the next guest

"What's the one thing you could do immediately inside your community that wouldn't cost a penny and would have the biggest impact?"

Hear Misha Sher answer it
Beyond the 11 episode 7: America's Best Players Are Still UnscoutedPrevious · EP 7Steve SampsonAmerica's Best Players Are Still UnscoutedBeyond the 11 episode 9: Build Beyond Your CareerNext · EP 9Misha SherBuild Beyond Your Career
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