MONTERREY, Mexico — Six months after quitting his job to serve his country, Jamaica’s assistant Under-17 football coach Omar Edwards is still in the wilderness — jobless.

In December when the Under-17s were on their way to a six-week training stint in Brazil, Edwards had to choose between job and country after failing to get time-off from Federal Pharmaceutical, where he had worked for five years.

“It was not the easiest thing to do but when I take into consideration, the demands of my country, it was something I could not say no to,” Edwards told the Sunday Observer a day after the young Reggae Boyz were eliminated from the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

“From I have resigned nobody has said anything to me,” he noted, with a wry smile on his face.

“I think the government should put something in place to all employers to know that once somebody gets call to serve their country, time off should be given,” hew said.

Edwards, 26, is the youth coach at Premier League club Boys’ Town and an assistant to head coach Andrew Price. He is also a family man and is struggling to make ends meet.

“It takes cash to care. But I will leave it in the hands of God. He has brought me this far and I know His intent is to take me all the way,” said Edwards.

He added: “It has not being easy out of a job for six months, especially with a little one being born recently, plus, there is family looking up to you. It is tough, but with the help of god, the Almighty, I believe I am going to pull through it,” he said with resolve.

And for the love of his country, a patriotic Edwards told the Sunday Observer he would do it all over again.

“Yes, I would do it without any second thoughts. I want to help with the development of my country,” he reiterated.

Edwards, along with head coach Wendell Downswell, was instrumental in qualifying Jamaica’s Under-17s for the World Cup, the first time in 10 years, the country made it to a global football event.

Jamaica finished at the bottom of the four-team group with one point after battling to a 1-1 draw with France on Friday. The lost 1-0 to group winners Japan and lost 2-1 to third-placed Argentina.

Now that he has realised his youthful dream of coaching his country, Edwards is in need of a job as his contract with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) expires next month.

“It has been a tremendous experience for me and I want to thank the JFF for all that they have done for me and emphasising confidence in local coaches,” he noted.

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

he said.

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

He is arguably the youngest coach to be drafted into the national programme after emerging as the top performer at last year’s Advanced Level II Coaching Course conducted by FIFA in conjunction with the JFF.