Interview with Tom Byer: Champion of Japanese youth football

There is something magical about someone who studied Criminal Justice in Florida and ended up as a catalyst for youth football development in Asia. In an age when the sport is becoming super-commercial and youth development is rarely focused upon, Tom Byer, Founder & Director T3 and ex-Director at Coerver Coaching Asia, is one of the few proponents of developing the game at the grass roots level. Known as the legendary ‘Tom San’ in Japan, Byer has appeared and directed clinics for youth football and some of the biggest names in the sport like Zinedine Zidane & David Beckham. The only youth coach who has been awarded the Golden Boot award, which he accepted in France after the World Cup draw of 1998, Tom San has his own TV show which is a major hit in Japan (13 years and still going) and his DVDs are consistent best sellers on Amazon Japan.

Tom San with Zidane at a development camp

Tom San’s methods are such a huge success that two of the members of Japan’s current Asia Cup winning squad have benefited from his coaching – Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa was in one of Tom’s coaching clinics and CSKA Moscow star Keisuke Honda watched his TV shows. I caught up with him to discuss youth development, Japanese football and where the game is headed in Asia.

Harmit: Hello Tom, thank you for talking to me. First, the question that pops to everyone’s mind when they look at your CV. How did criminal justice come into the picture for someone who is involved in developing football at the grass root level?

Tom: Thank you Harmit for the opportunity to talk to your readers. Born in the Bronx, I lived most of my life in upstate New York. My father was the Police Chief where we lived, sort of a super cop. Hence I largely grew up around policemen who were friends of the family. If I hadn’t been fortunate enough to be involved with football as a profession, I was going to go into Law Enforcement, hence the study in Criminal Justice.

Harmit: So how did the fascination with football happen to you?

Tom: Like any American, the bug bit me when Pele and later Beckenbauer signed for New York Cosmos. Inspired by seeing them play, I took to the game from the age of eight and in my high school and was voted the MVP of the League in my senior year. I dreamt of playing under the then Head Coach of national powerhouse Ulster County Community College, a Hungarian named George Vizvary, who has produced many professional players. I realized my dream and transferred to the University of South Florida in Tampa where I did very well.

Harmit: How did you take it on from there? Tell us about your professional career.

Tom: I had a short stint as a reserve at Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League. The whole league folded around 1984 and there were many unemployed football players running around. I was also selected to play in the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. I wound up in Japan and worked with many of the different Military Bases implementing football programs for kids. I was then introduced to Hitachi FC, which is currently in the J-League, by Kashiwa Reysol, by the former Assistant of the Japanese National Team and a friend of my Coach at Ulster, where I had a short stint.

Harmit: After your playing career, why did you look to Asia, especially Japan and why youth football?

Tom: After the stint with Hitachi FC, I remained in Japan. The game was just developing in the country and coaching facilities were poor. So I wanted to make a difference for the kids. I pitched the idea of a National Clinic Program to Nestle Japan. It got accepted and I headed it for 10 years and traveled around the country doing events.

This is a picture with the 2010 World Cup, Japan National Team Head Coach Takeshi Okada. Attending an Elite Training Camp for U12 Players.

Harmit: Having been an active participant of football development in Japan, how have you seen pro soccer grow in Japan? What has Japan been able to right, that many other countries have not done?

Tom: I have seen Japanese football grow since I arrived here in the mid 80’s. The old JFL formed the backbone for the Professional J-League. Much money was invested and organizations put in place, in order to have everyone moving in the same direction. Each team signed top World Cup stars like Zico, Lineker, Littbarski, Dunga, Stoikovich, Schilachi, Sampaio etc. in order to attract fans, gain media attention and teach the new professionals. It has worked wonders so far.

Harmit: Tell us about the influence that the Coerver system had on you. What aspects of the program appealed to you?

Tom: The videos that I watched of Wiel Coerver had a profound impact on me, just like several renowned technical coaches who are influenced by the Coerver Method. The method is two things: it’s a body of work which incorporates a teaching method, and also a business. Technique is the foundation upon which the game is built. So although I understood the fundamentals on how to coach technique, the real magic has been on how to make it a sustainable business. That is the key element missing for most technical coaches. ‘Coerver’ has turned into a generic term for technique. There aren’t many coaches that can make a business out of it, which in turn relates to expanding the teaching method.

Harmit: So how did you turn the system into a successful business model?

Tom: I introduced the Coerver program to Japan and subsequently the rest of Asia. In Japan I guided the business to a sustainable level. The reason is that it had a substantial investment and a good business plan behind it. In other Asian countries the business is licensed out, and most licensees are coaches who are not properly funded. So it’s really hard for them to build a business. Not many people want to invest money into building a brand that they don’t own because the business can be taken back after the license runs out. The training is quite different as well, with licensees receiving minimal training at best. So although I follow the philosophy of Wiel Coerver, I believe the Coerver business model is flawed.

Harmit: Was the Japanese Football association supportive of your activities. What kind of assistance did they provide?

Tom: The JFA didn’t support us in the beginning stages. It wasn’t until we became a big business that they could no longer ignore our presence. We would later be asked to train the JFA National Coaching Staff in technique and enjoy good support from the Local and State Federations.

Harmit: Tell us about the Japanese children. How did you break down the barriers between the kids and adults such as the ‘reverence barrier’ where the Japanese kids are not even supposed to take shots at the goal in reverence to adults?

Tom: Ha, yes! The Japanese children are quite shy and they are taught from a very young age not to stand out. They are drilled with the ideology of the team coming before the individual. But learning technique is an individual pursuit. From a coaching perspective, the Japanese children are a pleasure to work with because of their extreme discipline and love for learning. But getting kids to find solutions on their own is a challenge.

Harmit: Being a youth coach, where do you see football in Japan in the next 10 years?

Tom: I can safely say that football is here to stay in Japan. It’s already bigger than baseball. Japan have gone to the next level, but they are still on the cusp of breaking the final barrier and challenging big time. In the next ten years, Japan will become a team most countries will not want in their group in tournaments. They will continue to grow and hold their place as the best in Asia if they pay attention to consistency.

Harmit: How has the Coerver system changed over the years?

Tom: The ‘Coerver’ name now really represents the commercial side of the business, a trademarked name given to the methodology. But football is a rapidly evolving sport. So should coaching methods which are ideas that must grow. The foundation is still ball mastery, 1 v 1 skills etc. but the game is much more than that right now. So coaching instructions can never be copyrighted. Wiel Coerver was simply a genius to first come up with a proper curriculum.

Harmit: Did you see India play at the Asian Cup? What is your take on why India performs poorly in international tournaments?

Tom: I watched the highlights of all of the Indian games. You can tell that the players are not good enough both technically and tactically. The problem with India is quite simple for me. You need to have millions of kids playing the game all over the country. Money needs to be invested in improving facilities for kids, not just for the elite. I have friends of mine involved in Indian Football and a close friend used to be the National Team Head Coach, Stephen Constantine.

It’s funny, there are lots of wealthy Indian businessmen who would like to see their country become better. They think that the solution to developing the sport in the country is to sponsor EPL teams or better yet, buy one. This does absolutely nothing for the grass roots game. They just don’t get it!

T3: Tom Byer's brainchild

Harmit: What are the objectives of T3?

Tom: We are looking to export my experience, knowledge and know-how to other developing countries. I am currently working on two very big projects inside China and Indonesia. My philosophy is, in order to make Japan a stronger football nation, we need to improve other Asian countries at the same time. Grass roots football has always been seen more as an obligation rather than an opportunity. And grass roots football very rarely has a return on investment built in. As I said, wealthy people need to invest in their home country. To encourage them, I created a business model that actually has a return on investment and is sustainable over a long term.

Harmit: Tom, thanks a lot for giving us your valuable insights.