Like father, like son: New Lions coach Gavin Lee grateful for father’s influence as parents beam with pride

SINGAPORE – While football coaching is done on the field, long-time youth coach Lawrence Lee often spends a lot of time and effort planning the sessions on paper beforehand.

This conscientious approach rubbed off on his son Gavin, who started coaching as a teenager, before rising through the ranks to become the national team’s permanent head coach.

Recalling his first steps into coaching at the age of 16, Gavin said he helped his dad during a football camp at Broadrick Secondary School, where he laid out cones for the training sessions.

It laid the foundation for his coaching career too.

The 35-year-old told The Straits Times: “My father left quite a few valuable lessons for me and I still try to espouse those values today, like punctuality.

“He hated people coming late... and so I still remember that to this day. And he told me that if a coach (arrives) half an hour before training, he’s already late. So those kind of standards were set.

“And I often remember watching him planning a session on pen and paper and how he... put a lot of time and effort to it, and probably that’s why I’m a stickler to details right now.

“And so, he has definitely influenced me a lot and really, without him, I wouldn’t be sat here today.”

Not only has Gavin inherited his father’s attention to detail, but he has also taken the meticulous streak to another level.

Several players have shared how they would receive WhatsApp messages from him in the wee hours, containing clips from the previous match to explain areas which need improvement.

After the momentous 2-1 win over Hong Kong on Nov 18 that sealed Asian Cup qualification, Football Association of Singapore deputy president Desmond Ong posted a photo of Gavin rewatching the game on his laptop, an example of his unrelenting desire for excellence.

On Nov 28, Lawrence, 65, and his wife Nicole Chong, a 61-year-old retiree, beamed with pride in the front row as their son’s appointment as permanent Lions coach was announced at a press conference at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Lawrence, who led the Victoria Junior College A Division girls’ team to 11 straight titles – the most recent one won in May – told ST later in an interview that he was never one to offer advice to his son, but instead always looked to “show by example”.

He said: “My main principle that everybody knows, is about discipline. Punctuality and discipline are things I cannot compromise on.”

Lawrence and his wife knew how important the clash with Hong Kong was and watched it together from their Tampines flat.

As the match neared its conclusion, Chong found it too stressful to keep watching and retreated to the bedroom.

Moments later, upon hearing the final whistle, she returned to the living room, where the couple embraced and jumped in joy.

“It really was a special moment and that kind of happiness does not come around often,” said Chong, adding that she received countless congratulatory text messages from friends and ex-colleagues who had not realised that her son was a football coach, let alone one who had steered his country to historic qualification for the Asian Cup.

Gavin expressed gratitude for his parents’ support and also thanked a host of individuals who have backed him on his coaching journey such as Ong, his former youth coach Kadir Yahaya, former Warriors FC coach Alex Weaver and JSSL football school managing director Harvey Davis.

He said: “The journey that I’ve taken is not normal, right? To go into high-pressure stuff quite early on is not easy but I have parents that always supported me, that gave me space.

“And again, I’m quite obsessive about the game, so I spent a lot of time in the game. And so they have been very tolerant. My wife knows that I’m not the easiest person to be around when we don’t win games as well.

“And so for them to continue to support me, regardless of how I am or where I am, and they see me as just a son, that’s very important.”