“Strategy in the absence of culture gets you nowhere.”

A must listen for all coaches steeped in youth development.

Tom Byer's journey into the football world is a familiar one for many a coach. Unsatisfied with what football had to teach him in his formative years he embarked upon a journey to find experts within their field. What ensued has been over 40 years of learning, growth and constantly itching away at the forever moving target of youth development. Here Tom is kind enough to distill the insights behind what he has learned and manage to share with some of the best clubs and federations in world football. These range from winning the battle at entry level to closing the gap between best in class and least developed. At the heart of it all is a deep spirit of collaboration. Yet why does Tom feel he is more welcomed by the greats and not the minnows?

A lot to get through and unpack. Furthermore we discussed;

- Discovering football growing up in upstate New York.

- The set of circumstances which brought him to Japan.

- The common denominators taken from thousands of hours researching the most successful players and countries?

- How technical competence should be a pre-requisite before organised play?

- Designing emotionally charged environments which support deep learning and long term memory.

- What implications does the latest groundbreaking neuroscience research have for skill development?

Timestamps;

00:00 - 06:45 - Intro

06:46 - 13:01 - Japan

13:02 - 46:11 - Football Starts at Home

46:12 - 56:04 - Football Ecosystems

56:05 - 1:07:56 - Collaboration

1:07:57 - 1:12:54 - Advice

Tom's Twitter; https://twitter.com/tomsan106?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Tom's Book; https://soccerstartsathomebook.com/