Where to now Bosso Tshilamoya?

Despite the  recent fault finding operation on social networks by some die hard Bosso fans that  nearly caused uproar on the players and coaching staff in the past few weeks. Highlanders lead by Kelvin Kaindu was able to redeem itself by emerging as the winners of $130 000 Mdada Trophy this afternoon. Many hoped that the embattled Bosso camp would soon move forward and concentrate on the future. A lot of social commentators have bemoaned the lack of a vibrant youth policy that used to be the back borne of the team for many years.  Most fans were irked by the teams failure to take the championship. And more so because for some unknown reason the team has failed to beat Dynamos in the past six years. Dynamos is Bosso 's main team rival period. Whenever these two team play its like a cup final. Given this case most fans took to social networks to vent and express their opinions. What followed after that was what I call "Umhaso zhi mthakathi," or operation kill the wizard!  Name calling, bribery, treachery, tribal mistrust and lack of commitment and pride among players were  also mentioned. The biggest question  is does this win come in time  to cool down the tempers, or is it too little too late?

 It is worth taking note the fact that Zimbabwean Soccer has changed ever since the teams like Amazulu  back in 1995. The  former flamboyant sponsored  Bulawayo side  changed the scope of the game for the players  for ever. Up until then not too many teams paid their players the way Delma Lupepe did. He did not only raise the standard for soccer players 's incentives and compensation but also paved the way for the future of Soccer in the country.

From there onwards most players stopped  playing for glory, but instead took soccer seriously as a thriving career that can sustain them. He was the first to buy players houses as incentives and so on. The first player to reach a million dollars in the local market was in Lupepe's  gold and black team. We must also remember that when Amazulu started flourishing after Lupepe acquired it from Charles Mhlauri, most Highlanders fans resented this team with passion simply because they thought it was a going to take over as a new Highlanders" There was deep enmity within the three Bulawayo giants, namely Amazulu, Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints. Competition was tough and all these team were good. It was the first time that the best players in the region were not in Bosso camp, neither were they in Zimbabwe's saints Chikwata. They were in  flamboyant Amazulu. Later we  saw some Bosso players, leaving for Harare Glamour boys something which was a taboo in those days. People like Lenny Gwata, Makwinji Soma and Lovemore Ncube etc.

Players began to cross boundaries. Highlanders was also boosted by Zimbabwe Saints players such as Sikhumbuzo Ndebele or Mlungisi Ndebele etc. The same was happening to the coaching staff, Barry Daka would be employed by Delma and so was Cosmas Zulu. My point is that as much as we want to go back to the past, we must be careful on how we go about it. The past few years have seen Highlanders attracting players from all over the country. Some were able to use  Bosso as a stepping stone to  booming international markets. In order for us to understand the game today, we must look broadly at the soccer landscape both at home and abroad. The game of soccer is changing fast. Just as we speak there are new teams, some of them are township teams and are very competitive. New Lobengula had two teams in division three, one of them is going to the second division next season. Bongani Mafu and his young brother Gidiza Sibanda  are in it to win. Time will not allow me to talk about Methembe Ndlovu and his Bantu Rovers.

 It is no offence that Highlanders has a good history that must be guided jealously but that alone will not make us reach the next level. Who could have predicted that there will be teams like Harare City seriously contending for the Championship in 2013 season?. Traditional teams will need to adjust to the changing environment. If you are walking in the streets of Bulawayo at time you could be forgiven to think that you are deep in  Harare somewhere.  Whether we like it or not the demographics are fast changing in our very eyes and failure to acknowledge that might prove fatal. The future is now!