Sun | May 24, 2026

‘No brain drain!’ - JFF taking positives from coaching trio departure

Published:Tuesday | January 29, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Pause
Coach Omar Edwards (right) talks strategy with Tivoli Garden FC players at a training session held at the Edward Seaga Sports Complex in Kingston on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. Edwards has since left the club, with reports saying he has taken up a new role in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Wint
1
2

Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) General Secretary Dalton Wint said that despite the reports that three young coaches formerly associated with the national programme are headed to the Turks and Caicos islands, there are positives to take from the situation.

Former national Under-17 head coach Andrew Edwards, who also coached Manchester High School in the ISSA/WATA DaCosta Cup, is one of these coaches. His national assistant, Omar Edwards, who also coached Tivoli Gardens FC and Denham Town High School in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup, is another.

The third is Aaron Lawrence, former national Under 15, Sandals South Coast FC and Rusea’s High School head coach.

With all three coaches once a part of the national set-up, at the youth level, it has led to concerns about the national programme and questions being raised whether their departure represents a brain drain of talented young coaches, who are seeking better welfare in their careers overseas.

While calls to Aaron Lawrence and Andrew Edwards went unanswered, Omar Edwards said he would rather not discuss the details surrounding his departure at this time.

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHERS

Wint, however, said that he does not see the departures as a brain drain, but an opportunity for the trio and those replacing them at their respective teams.

“In everything that you do, you know, it has its negatives and its positives,” Wint said.

“Them leaving is an opportunity for other persons to step up, that’s one. And two, they’re possibly going there to gain greater knowledge to come back.

“Here (Jamaica) is home at all times. We shouldn’t look at it as a brain drain. We should look at it as an opportunity for other persons to step up.”

Wint also confirmed toThe Gleaner that Hopeton Gilchrist and Dexter Gilmore would replace Messrs Edwards in the U17 team as head coach and assistant respectively.

He said that he was aware that Messrs Edwards, whose contracts with the U17 team had expired, were headed overseas, which meant that the JFF knew it had to give consideration to new persons for the roles.