Houston Dynamo

Soccer starts at home! This is more than just a fancy slogan. It’s the core belief of world renown youth soccer trainer Tom Byer. Based out of Japan, Byer came to be known to the Houston organization through the efforts of former Dynamo legend Brian Ching.

Get children comfortable

Getting kids comfortable with a soccer ball at an early age is more important than most parents realize. Eighty five percent of a child’s brain is developed by age three making this correlation even more relevant.

“It depends on the age, but what we’re doing is to basically introduce a ball – a small ball, because you want a small ball for a small foot – inside the home because the home is a very safe and protective environment away from ridicule,” Byer said. “The interaction between the child and the parent is what’s paramount because that child’s need for that parental approval is what really kind of sets the kid up for deep learning. It’s very simple, the things that we’re showing parents, and fostering a stronger relationship and more activity between parents and children in hopes also that they understand the game more from a fundamental level.”

Parents

The first line in a child’s early development are the parents. We teach ourselves virtually everything but the intricacies of getting used to sports at an early age. If you don’t think a child is ready to begin before the age of three think Tiger Woods. By the age of eight, arguably the greatest golfer ever was showcasing his skills on Good Morning America. If he can do it so can many other children if provided the opportunity.

Tom Byer

In Houston for the past week, Byer conducted an event at Houston Sports Park geared primarily towards ages 2-6. The event taught parents of young children skills that they can began to teach their youngster and allowed an insight into how these skills parlay into real life benefits.

“It’s using soccer in a very positive way to build better people: valuable life skills, socializing, communicating, that camaraderie,” Byer concluded. “Sports is a wonderful way to teach kids just to be good human beings.”