Revolutionising Indian volleyball, one game at a time: David Lee leading the change

David Lee is currently the head coach of Bengaluru Torpedoes in the Prime Volleyball League

Few athletes encapsulate the essence of thrill-seeking quite like David Lee. A casual scroll through his Instagram profile epitomizes life lived to the fullest; creatively shot drone videos with backdrops of him cruising in the Mexican seas, trekking across the Napali Coast in Hawaii, and gliding through the waves on a surfboat in the South Americas.

David Lee with Bengaluru Torpedoes(PVL)

Even when it comes to his profession, David Lee remains an adventurer. Last year, away from the lands where he made his career and soared to great heights, Lee took on a new role across the oceans in India. Having retired from the game as a player, Lee overtook Bengaluru Torpedoes as their coach.

A versatile player, he excelled at multiple positions, making him an invaluable asset to any team he represented across the globe in various leagues and tournaments. That versatility was evident when he turned to coaching, too. Last year, Lee steered the Torpedoes to the final, where they lost to Ahmedabad Defenders. And as one closely looks at how Torpedoes have been performing, it is evident that Lee wants to create something special at the Bengaluru-based franchise.

Excerpts from the interview:

It has been a bittersweet season for the Torpedoes so far. How do you look at it?

We had a good start; we did struggle against Mumbai and Delhi in our first few games, but they are good teams, too. We came back against Ahmedabad, and that was our best match of the year.

I mean, our strategy, in general, is to be the best first-contact team in India, meaning we're going to serve really difficult serves, and we're going to pass the ball better than everyone else. And if we can pass the ball well, that means our side out and attack percentage will be higher.

So that's our basic strategy. It is being aggressive from the service line. And we do a lot of repetitions in training. So far, the team is very happy. I'm very proud of how they're playing the game, how they're fighting, how they're just dealing with adverse situations and scenarios and just coming back stronger each match.

That win against Ahmedabad Defenders must have tasted sweet, given the final heartbreak last year…

We were strictly thinking about redemption. We wanted to come back and get a little revenge for what they did to us in the final. It's a very good team, and we knew that going into it… the way it was going to be, it would take everything from our side to beat them. I think the performance we had… was as close to flawless as we could be.

Our serve was unbelievably good. I think such games are a great momentum builder for the team. This is like just the beginning of what I want to see our team achieve in the future. If we can beat teams like Ahmedabad, we can beat teams like Calicut. These teams are the number one threat in this league., The other teams are pretty good. Hyderabad is good. Chennai is good. Delhi and Mumbai. I think those are all pretty enviable teams.

Thomas Heptinstall has been one of the side's most important players this year. How do you look at his overall impact on this team?

He's a guy that we knew would have to take a heavy load for this team for us to be successful. We have, as I said, the best passing team with AngaMuthu and Pankaj (Sharma) and Sethu (TR). And when that's a part of your team, it should be easier for him to be impactful on the attack side.

And so, we've relied on him a lot in side out and attack. Also, he's one of the best blockers as a universal. This is kind of unheard of. So, his block has added a lot. As the tournament's gone on, he's getting more confidence in himself to be the guy that he should be: the star of our team.

You turned to coaching last year. Now that you have been a year into your job, how do you look at this transition?

I was super uncertain about becoming a coach. I didn't really want to have that role. A few years ago, as a player, I wasn't even thinking about coaching. And then, when I got the opportunity to coach with Bengaluru last year, it's something I really fell in love with. I love seeing this team grow.

I love the camaraderie. I can still get that as a coach, which is a great feeling to have. But the first season was really rough just because I didn't know much about how or what to do as a coach. I was just kind of learning through the season. After having that experience and really figuring out what I want to do with teams and how I want to coach them, this second year has been much easier.

It has been much less stress and just more enjoyable to coach the team this year, as opposed to last season.

You talked about infusing a new style of play in Torpedoes last year. What was it, and how have the players reacted to it?

Pretty good. I'm really pushing an intense intention-based training. We're going in with a focus on getting better at specific skills. We're not just going in to get sweaty and get an athletic day. It's us actually trying to get things done and progress in a direction that's going to be better for us in this league.

The offensive system that they're running in India is something I really want to get away from. So, I think that's been a pretty easy change, especially bringing in a foreign setter, just to show them that, hey, this combination offence is something that's fun to watch.

We've tried to think more about spread offence and overloading blockers. So, we try to overload a blocker, or we try to spread the block out. It's a pretty basic strategy, but it's very effective. And it's pretty easy to implement in a short period of time. So, it's nice to have a foreign setter just because it's easy for him to show that to our Indian setters as well: ‘Hey, this is how we run an offence. This is how I distribute the ball’.

So, bringing in a foreign setter was definitely an easy hack in changing the system.

Introducing a different style of play in a league that isn't pretty lengthy in schedule… how do you navigate that pressure?

I don't find it being a lot of pressure. I think it's honestly a huge opportunity because there is so much development that can be done here. It's not very easy for me to come in in a short period of time and make drastic changes to systems within a month. But these are some basics that are going to up your game very quickly. So, you see… very fast improvement in a short period of time. That's one of the main reasons why I came.

I think I can have an impact very quickly just by implementing a small amount of difference in the game. So, I think it's awesome to see that there are so many foreign coaches coming into the league. When you're in a developmental stage, bringing in these new ideas and fresh perspectives is important. I think that really helps expedite that process of development in a shorter period of time, right?

Among Indians, who has been the player who impressed you the most?

I've been lucky enough to be with one player, Mujib, my middle blocker. We played together for two seasons as comrades. And then I got to coach him last year for the first time and I'm coaching him again this year. So, I've seen him for four years, and I've definitely been working with him since my first year as a player.

And I've seen a lot of improvement with him, just the way that he moves and the way he sees the game. He is the guy on the team that I see improve the most as a player, but it's also been me with that guy for a long time as well. I do see the entire league’s level rising every single season.

The fact that they're adding new teams every year is helpful as well. We have Delhi now; it's nice to see some of these teams from the north getting to bring their style of play and their management into the league.

I definitely see improvement year by year. The only thing that fluctuates is the foreign players because the league is definitely at a time where it's difficult to find quality foreign players. So, every year, we'll see different foreign players but sometimes, we won't see quite as good.

So that's something that always fluctuates, but the level of the Indian guys is rising year by year.

An Indian club took part in the Club Worlds last year. How important is this exposure?

I think it's the most important thing for them to get exposed to these teams to see that this is the best of the best at the club level. They're essentially taking an all-star team and making it into a club team. They're taking on guys from Cuba, from Poland, from France, and they put them on these clubs. These are incredibly well-managed and just well-oiled machines. The only way for them to progress at a more rapid pace is to surround themselves with people who are exponentially better.

I was so happy that the Club Worlds came to India.

Do you believe that the PVL seasons should be longer to ensure better quality and quicker development of players?

I think, from a player's perspective, I would love to see it last longer. Just for them to be able to build a team as well. Because it's really difficult to build a team with one month of training camp and a one-month league. It's a very short period of time. You can do it, but it just makes it more difficult. But for the players and for their development as athletes and as players, I think a longer season is going to be beneficial.

I want to say, from the viewership side, that I do like the fact that it's a short one-month window of play. So it's nonstop games. There's tons of action, and that makes it fun. But I think for player development, it would be advantageous to extend the league by two to three months and just have more matches and more training.

I think you'd get a better-quality product and I think you'd see the level of the teams raised.

You have played around the world and won an Olympic medal with one of the best national teams. What makes you keep coming back to India, where the volleyball scene isn't as strong as some other nations?

Ever since the first year when I came, I was just really impressed by how good the people were. People were super friendly and very nice. (They were) so welcoming. That's what brought me back the first few years. Then I started to eat! There are so many flavours here that I've never even tried in my life back home. So, definitely, the food and the people make me keep coming back.

Obviously, this team in Bangalore… I really like the management we have. It's a very professional club, and that makes it really easy for me to transition and come back year after year because they take such good care of their athletes and their staff.

Watch the LIVE coverage of RuPay Prime Volleyball League Season 3, 6:30 PM onwards, only on Sony Sports Ten 1 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu).