Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube
BOSSO 90 has been handed a lifeline, but it comes with a bitter taste. The Highlanders’ developmental side will survive relegation from the Zifa Southern Region League by default this weekend when they are awarded a walkover against now-defunct, Ajax Hotspurs.
Hotspurs, who were struggling for sponsors, abandoned their Division Two campaign to take up the Arenel Movers slot, only for promised resources to disappear. Without funding to travel or maintain the team, their Division One season collapsed, handing Bosso 90 an unearned reprieve.
The Highlanders juniors were due to play Hotspurs in the final fixture of the season. Currently sitting 15th on the log with 32 points and a minus-16 goal difference, Bosso 90 would leap out of the bottom four, leaving Hotspurs with 8 points and relegation confirmed. Eagle Life (27) and Nust (27) are also set to drop, while Imbizo and Zebra Revolution face a tense showdown to avoid the chop.
The situation exposes a worrying trend for Highlanders’ youth pipeline. In recent years, the club has struggled to produce first-team-ready talent from its junior ranks. Only Andrew Mbeba has successfully broken through to play for both the Under-20s and the Warriors. Most graduates have fizzled out before making a mark.
Highlanders, once celebrated since the 1960s for nurturing homegrown stars, are now relying heavily on free agents and older players brought in by agents for exposure. This has starved the junior ranks of real opportunities to shine, leaving promising talent trapped in a development system that no longer functions as a springboard.
The debate over the relevance of Bosso 90 has long simmered at club AGM meetings. Critics argue that the project is a drain on resources, with players well past their prime dragged through the developmental squad. The youth structure, once the pride of Highlanders, has become a shadow of its former self.
As the Zifa Southern Region season winds down, Bulawayo Chiefs are already champions and on the brink of promotion to the Premier Soccer League. Meanwhile, Bosso 90 will live to fight another day, but the club faces a stark choice: overhaul its youth strategy or continue relying on luck and walkovers.
Week 34 Fixtures:
Friday – Nust v Eagle Life
Saturday – Bulawayo Warriors v Nkayi United, Jordan v Bulawayo City, Bulawayo Chiefs v Talen Vision, Megawatt v Blackrock, Bosso 90 v Ajax Hotspurs (Cancelled), Zebra Revolution v Imbizo, Hwange v Vic Falls Herentals, Mainline v Casmyn
The curtain falls on a season that has revealed just how thin Highlanders’ talent pool has become. Bosso 90 may survive, but their true test lies in rebuilding a pathway for the next generation of stars.
