Online Reporter
Innocent Kurira, [email protected]
WHAT if relegation is not the disaster Highlanders fear for Bosso 90?
What if, instead, it is the reset the youngsters desperately need?
It sounds strange.
For any football team, dropping down a division is normally treated as failure. But Bosso 90 are not an ordinary team.
They are supposed to be the production line for Highlanders.
And that is why Gift Lunga Junior’s comments after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Imbizo deserve more than a passing glance.
“I don’t want us to be relegated, but maybe this season’s misfortunes can also be a blessing,” said Lunga.
There it is.
A coach involved with the development side is essentially asking Highlanders to look beyond the table.
Bosso 90 are second from bottom of the Southern Region Soccer League with 22 points from 28 matches, with six games remaining.
They are fighting for survival.
But perhaps the bigger fight is not against relegation.
It is to determine what Bosso 90 are actually supposed to be.
Are they a team whose success is measured by staying in Division One?
Or are they a team whose success is measured by producing footballers for the Highlanders first team?
Those are two very different things.
And this is not the first time Highlanders have had this conversation.
In 2020, the club considered dropping Bosso 90 into Division Two amid questions over the cost of running the side and the number of players making the jump to the senior team.
The club eventually retained its Division One status.
The argument for remaining was understandable.
Young players need to be tested.
They need to play against experienced footballers, face pressure and learn to compete at a
demanding level.
But there is a flipside.
What happens when a development side spends an entire season looking over its shoulder?
Lunga says Bosso 90 are playing against experienced teams chasing promotion, while their own youngsters lack motivation.
That is a significant difference in objectives.
One team is fighting for promotion but the other is trying to produce footballers.
Perhaps that explains why the results have been so difficult to come by.
Division Two would not automatically be a solution.
The standard of football would be lower, and there is a legitimate argument that youngsters need strong opposition if they are to prepare themselves for Premier Soccer League football.
But development is also about confidence.
A young player needs to learn how to win.
He needs responsibility.
He needs to make mistakes without feeling that every mistake could drag his team closer to relegation.
Maybe that is what Lunga sees.
Maybe Division Two could provide Bosso 90 with room to breathe, rebuild and put development ahead of survival.
Of course, Highlanders should fight to remain in Division One.
Nobody wants to see Bosso 90 relegated.
But perhaps, if relegation does come, it should not automatically be treated as the end of the world.
It could be the beginning of something different.
And perhaps the question Highlanders need to answer is not simply:
How do we save Bosso 90 from relegation?
Perhaps it should be:
What division gives Bosso 90 the best chance of producing the next generation of Highlanders stars?
That is a question worth answering.
