Dad's 'valuable lessons' laid foundation for Lee

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

-  Deepanraj Ganesan

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."