Basketball coach to end 20-year stint at Old Harbour High

Having joined in 2000 as assistant to then head coach Robert Ramsey before taking over the reins five years later. Edwards went on the claim five national titles and more than 40 conference crowns spread across northern and central regions. The highlight during his superb tenure coming in 2012 when Old Harbour won the national under-16 championships with the likes of Junior Graham and Joel Bailey members of that fantastic team.

But after suffering only their third defeat of the 2019/20 season yesterday – a 50-46 semi-final loss to Kingston College in the ISSA U19 Basketball Southern Conference – Edwards has decided to call time on what has been a successful sojourn, building on the foundations of Ramsey to turn Old Harbour into a basketball force at the high school level.

“At the end of the national playoffs I will close one chapter in my life. I will be leaving the wonderful educational institution I have called home as a coach for the last two decades,” Edwards said.
“Old Harbour High School will always be dear to my heart, its continuous success I will be praying for.

“I have been privileged to have worked with and been a part of the lives of so many wonderful perons. I do count myself being blessed by God for these opportunities that He had provided me to have served here.

“Just saying a big thank you to the principal, the staff and students of this great institution for the support over the years. Also a big thank you to the sponsors; your support to the basketball programme and myself over the years has been tremendous. May God continue to bless all you. To my past and present players it has been my pleasure to have been called your assistant/coach. I thank you and your parents for allowing me to be a part of your lives.

“I was told to love what I do and do what I love effectively and you will be successful at it. And I believe I did that with basketball and at Old Harbour High School.”

Asked what has been his biggest disappointment as head coach, Edwards told Old Harbour News failing to win the national under-19 title and not able to help more of his players, despite being integral in securing basketball scholarships to the United States of America to over 20 players. Top talents such as Graham, Bailey, Javel Redwood and Wellesley Butler – the latter a Division One player for the University of Alabama Birmingham – are now all overseas on basketball scholarships.

Though he will be giving up coaching at Old Harbour High, Edwards, who is a pastor, says he will continue his work at the Old Harbour Basketball Academy, the annual Old Harbour Church of Christ Basketball Summer Camp and the Kevon Godfrey Memorial Invitational.

“What I’m very happy about, is that whosoever takes over will have a strong foundation in place to work from and to build on, which is something that I have always said. When I’m leaving Old Harbour the person coming in would not need to start from scratch,” Edwards said.

Despite being knocked out of the southern conference, Edwards and his boys are still in with a chance to finish the season on a high when the national play-offs begin in two weeks, having secured one of the four semi-final spots in the conference.

Old Harbour will be considered one of the dark horses in the play-offs – twice losing narrowly to Camperdown High during the group stages before falling to KC in the knockout round.

But Edwards believes his boys can turn things around if they play to their true potential.

“It’s not like the other teams are way better than us,” he told Old Harbour News. “All they need to do is to play to instructions, stay focus and execute the game plan.”