SAO PAULO, Brazil — Assistant coach of the national Under-17 football team Omar Edwards on Tuesday resigned from his position at Federal Pharmaceutical after being refused time off to pursue his lifelong dream of coaching at the national level.

Edwards, 26, who worked at the company for five years as a maintenance technician, said he proposed several alternatives to his employers which fell on deaf ears, leaving him no choice but to chose between his country and his job.

“Well, they said they cannot afford to give me the time at this time to serve my country because of shortage in the department,” Edwards told the Observer while in transit at the Miami International Airport en route to Brazil.

“I had proposed several things to them and they were all shot down,” he added.

“What the company is saying is that at this time they need my physical presence. Now, is it a situation where my presence in still needed?” asked Edwards about his resignation.

“I proposed that a young man could fill that gap while I am away and they shot that down, saying he has no experience. I was trying to negotiate right up to that point, but it didn’t work. The company has accepted my resignation and I thanked them for it,” he noted.

The promising youth coach from Boys’ Town said he, however, has no regrets about his decision, especially when called to national duty.

“The truth be told, I feel good about my decision. My country called upon me to serve them and I did so,” a patriotic Edwards pointed out.

But as to what he will do after his three-week stint as assistant coach of the Young Reggae Boyz is over, he remains optimistic.

“Put it this way: God will provide and I believe that something else will turn around,” he said boldly.

Meanwhile, Edwards is calling on the government to implement measures that would prevent a similar situation from happening to someone else when called upon by their country to serve.

“I would love to use this medium to say to the government that when one gets call for national duties, measures should be put in place for one to serve their country… I have no regret with my decision,” he reiterated.

Edwards, a former Dunoon Technical Manning Cup player, actually started coaching at age 16 at the Restoration Christian Centre, known as Joy Town.

In 2004, he got the job as coach of Under-20 coach of Boys’ Town before taking over the Under-21 team.

Edwards, who claimed to be a feared defender, said he also represented Arnett Gardens and Boys’ Town at the Under-21 level.

Edwards, at age 26, is arguably the youngest coach to be drafted into the national programme after emerging as the top performer at the recent Advanced Level II Coaching Course conducted by FIFA in conjunction with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).

Meanwhile, general secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Horace Reid, yesterday lifted his hat to Edwards for the “difficult decision” he made.

“We all ought to recognise the sacrifice this young coach has made… I met with him and made him aware the impact his decision could have on his future well being considering the financial state of the federation, but it was his decision to make and he made it,” said the veteran administrator.

Reid said what Edwards has exhibited is being “replicated every day by others in the JFF at great sacrifice”.

“As a federation we are indebted to these individuals, and the country also needs to recognise what they are doing at great self-sacrifice,” said Reid.

The JFF general secretary said Edwards, like many functionaries at the JFF, only receives a stipend and is not a salaried employee due to the federation’s inability to pay at this time.