Jonte Smith has ruled out any chance of being a part of Bermuda’s upcoming Under-20 World Cup and Digicel Cup commitments.The teenaged striker has made the “difficult” choice to pass up the opportunity to represent his country later this year in favour of placing all emphasis on his professional career at English League One side Crawley Town.“Sadly I won’t be involved in those tournaments because it’s right in between my pre-season training and basically that’s the time I will get the best opportunity to show my coaching staff how good I am and that I deserve to be involved in the first team,” Smith told The Royal Gazette.“It’s definitely hard having to turn down playing for your country, but right now I have to think about my future and my career. It was a difficult decision to make because obviously it would be a great experience to play for Bermuda in these sort of tournaments. But then again I also have to think about what’s best personally going forward and that sort of stuff.”Smith inked a one-year professional contract at the West Sussex club last April as a reward for a number of outstanding performances with the Red Devils’ Academy and reserve teams.The son of former national cricket skipper Clay Smith banged in 25 goals in all competitions, including a hat-trick against Wycombe Wanderers in the English FA Youth Cup.Smith now hopes to pick up where he left off when he returns to the UK later this month for pre-season training.“My goals for next season are to hopefully get a few starting appearances, score some goals and hopefully secure a longer contract,” he said.To help achieve his short-term goals the 17-year-old footballer intends to use his spare time to put in some extra training on his own.“I’m going to use my free time wisely to go down to the field to do some shooting practise or running to keep fitter and that sort of stuff,” he said.Smith returned home last month and since then he has enjoyed a bit of rest and relaxation while also keeping himself in tip top physical shape.“I’m definitely enjoying the beautiful weather and lovely scenery and seeing all my family and friends again,” he said. “I’ve also been going to the gym and doing a bit of running and I have to thank the Athletic Club for allowing me to use their gym free of charge while I am here.“I also want to thank Troy Douglas (former Olympic sprinter) for putting a programme in place to help me keep fit and help me with my strength and speed.”The Red Devils gained promotion to the English League One after finishing third behind League Two champions Swindon Town and runners- up Shrewsbury last season.Smith has already begun his research on the teams he is keen to play against next season.“I have been looking at the different opposition I will get to play against in past Premier League grounds such as Portsmouth’s ground at Fratton Park, which I think is about a 30,000 seat stadium,” he said. “It’s definitely a big step from Under-18 football to League One football.”