Tom Byer
Encyclopedia
Tom Byer is a former professional soccer player originally from New York and is now a renowned grassroots soccer coach based in Tokyo, Japan.
Tom started his soccer career at Roundout Valley High School where he was named Mid-Hudson Player of the Year. He continued to play soccer at SUNY Ulster while studying for his Associate degree in Liberal Arts - Humanities and Social Sciences in 1982. Tom later played for the University of South Florida
and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival. Upon graduation, Tom signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies
franchise, but the NASL was in decline and the league folded soon after.
These series of unfortunate events forced him to look elsewhere to pursue his career in Soccer. Tom did a brief stint with Leighton FC in England before becoming the first American Professional Soccer player to play in Asia by signing for Hitachi FC (Currently named Kashiwa Reysol
, playing in the J-League)
Upon retiring from his professional soccer career, Tom took up coaching and became the Director of Coerver Coaching Asia in January 1993, travelling throughout Asia conducting clinics for National Federations to help improve youth development. Throughout his leadership tenure in Coerver Coaching, he was able to establish more than 60 schools in Japan until his retirement at the end of 2007 due to differences with management over the direction of where the company is going. He then took his talent, TV fame, manga fame, and contacts to start his own school called T3 (read: Tom-san) academy in January 2008. Tom San has his own TV show which is a major hit in Japan and his DVDs are consistent best sellers on Amazon Japan.
Over the past 20 years, Tom has been conducting events in more than 2,000 locations with a total of 500,000 children participating. To culminate his achievement, Adidas
honored Tom with the Golden Boot award, which he accepted in France after the World Cup draw of 1998 for his contribution to youth soccer in Asia. Tom remains to be the only youth coach to have received the award.
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
Tom started his soccer career at Roundout Valley High School where he was named Mid-Hudson Player of the Year. He continued to play soccer at SUNY Ulster while studying for his Associate degree in Liberal Arts - Humanities and Social Sciences in 1982. Tom later played for the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
and was a member of the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival. Upon graduation, Tom signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies
Tampa Bay Rowdies
The Tampa Bay Rowdies was a professional soccer team from Tampa, Florida, USA. The team played in the North American Soccer League until the league's dissolution and went on to play in several other leagues before folding in 1993. The Rowdies played their outdoor home games at Tampa Stadium and...
franchise, but the NASL was in decline and the league folded soon after.
These series of unfortunate events forced him to look elsewhere to pursue his career in Soccer. Tom did a brief stint with Leighton FC in England before becoming the first American Professional Soccer player to play in Asia by signing for Hitachi FC (Currently named Kashiwa Reysol
Kashiwa Reysol
is a J. League Division 1 team. Its home town is Kashiwa, Chiba, about an hour northeast of Tokyo.-History:Founded in 1940 as Hitachi, Ltd. Soccer Club in Koganei, Tokyo, the team was a founding member of the Japan Soccer League...
, playing in the J-League)
Upon retiring from his professional soccer career, Tom took up coaching and became the Director of Coerver Coaching Asia in January 1993, travelling throughout Asia conducting clinics for National Federations to help improve youth development. Throughout his leadership tenure in Coerver Coaching, he was able to establish more than 60 schools in Japan until his retirement at the end of 2007 due to differences with management over the direction of where the company is going. He then took his talent, TV fame, manga fame, and contacts to start his own school called T3 (read: Tom-san) academy in January 2008. Tom San has his own TV show which is a major hit in Japan and his DVDs are consistent best sellers on Amazon Japan.
Over the past 20 years, Tom has been conducting events in more than 2,000 locations with a total of 500,000 children participating. To culminate his achievement, Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
honored Tom with the Golden Boot award, which he accepted in France after the World Cup draw of 1998 for his contribution to youth soccer in Asia. Tom remains to be the only youth coach to have received the award.
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
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
midfielder Shinji Kagawa
Shinji Kagawa
is a Japanese footballer who plays for German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. He previously played for Cerezo Osaka. He has been capped by Japan at international level.-Club career:...
was in one of Tom’s coaching clinics and CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow is a major Russian sports club based in Moscow. It is popularly referred to in the West as "Red Army" or "the Red Army team" because during the Soviet era, it was a part of the Armed Forces sports society, which in turn was associated with the Soviet Army...
star Keisuke Honda
Keisuke Honda
is a Japanese footballer who currently plays for Russian CSKA Moscow and the Japan national football team. His current position is as a deep-lying playmaker, but he can equally play as an attacking midfielder or second striker. He is also a very skilled free kick taker scoring one in the FIFA World...
watched his TV shows