KUDOS to young football coach Omar Edwards who walked away from his job of five years to pursue his dream of being a national football coach.

Edwards, who was one of the top-scorers in the recent UTech/JMMB/JFF Advanced Level Two course along with name sake Andrew Edwards of St Elizabeth Technical, is presently in Brazil with the national Under-17 team on training camp in preparation for the CONCACAF Under-17 finals in less than two months time.

He almost did not make the trip however, as his employers told him they could not allow him to leave, despite what he said were workable alternatives he presented to them.

Only 26 years-old, Edwards took a bold decision to resign in order to pursue a dream.

That took a lot of guts, especially in an uncertain job market and it is hoped he will be able to find another job when he gets back or better yet, his former employers will come to their senses and give him his job back.

If his former employers were thinking rationally that would not just be the decent thing to do but the only thing to do. Last week we also heard the story of another national sports personality who was prevented form taking part in an international tournament as his employers would not give him the time off to travel.

It is a shame that a national football coach or any person should be forced to choose between their jobs and representing their countries. That however is a fact of life in a small poor country where sports is mostly amateur or semi-professional.

This is where employers and the private sector should come in to ensure that our youths can achieve their fullest potential while flying the national flag.

In less than two months Edwards will be seeking to help the national Under 17 team qualify for a FIFA World Cup and it is nothing short of a national disgrace that instead of concentrating fully on that responsibility, he should be worrying about where he will find a job to pay his bills.