Even though the Diski Challenge has helped fast-track the careers of a number of big players, former Kaizer Chiefs head coach Cavin Johnson has suggested it does not necessarily take the country forward.
The Diski Challenge has offered a platform to players such as Percy Tau, Cassius Mailula, Thapelo Maseko, Relebohile Mofokeng, Mfundo Vilakazi, Yusuf Maart and countless others, an opportunity to get a taste of how it feels like to be involved in a professional setup.
Read: Johnson Reveals Chiefs Youngster Who Wowed Him
With games being shown live on TV and the professionalism almost at the same level as the PSL, players in the reserve league get inspired to get promotions to the first team at their clubs and the transition to the higher level does not become difficult.
However, there has been arguments that the reserve league is not supposed to be as competitive and pressured environment like the DDC, because players miss the stages of development.
Johnson, who was part of a committee of coaches who made the School Excellence successful, says the culture of winning in the DDC denies the country opportunities to produce players who could express themselves like Jomo Sono, Doctor Khumalo or Ronaldinho.
"The DDC is a winning league, everybody wants to win it. A lot of times I watch the games and all I see is winning mentality. You know we had a philosophy at the School of Excellence that, if you score five goals we'll score six goals, like you saw with Barcelona, they won 5-4 (against Real Madrid)," Johnson explained on Smash Sports YouTube Channel.
"That is the mentality we always instilled in our players, that if the tactical does not work, do something else and the others will cover you if you do something wrong. We always encouraged them to coach themselves on the pitch, besides me, see where loopholes are, because you're developing them, you don't want them to be robots.
"Because there are moments in the game you have to become a Ronaldinho, Doctor Khumalo, Ace Ntsoelengoe or a Jomo Sono, where no coach can tell you to stand on the ball," Johnson added.
