No Stoppage Time! . . . Katsande’s post-football game is full throttle

Blessing Malinganiza

Zimpapers Sports Hub

WILLARD Katsande doesn’t know how to stand still.

After years commanding Kaizer Chiefs’ midfield and captaining Zimbabwe’s national team, the former footballer has swapped the pitch for the boardroom, but his drive hasn’t slowed a bit.

He’s building a life after football with the same intensity that once fuelled his tackles; launching a fashion label, mentoring young players and proving that reinvention isn’t just possible, it’s essential.

“I’ve been a businessman since I was young,” he says.

“When my father passed away, I helped my mother as a vendor. That hustle was in my blood.”

Long before he wore the captain’s armband, Katsande learned how to survive.

Selling goods on the street taught him grit and that same grit carried him through the highs and brutal lows of professional sport.

“Nothing comes easy,” he says.

“Football taught me toughness. My career looks like it was smooth, but the sacrifices were brutal.” Retirement didn’t slow him down. It lit a fire.

“I knew I had to keep moving,” he says.

His post-football strategy is simple; start small, play the long game.

“I accept where I am now, but I’m focused on the long game.”

That long game revolves around two ventures; his soccer academy and his fashion brand, Boss Ya Mboka.

“I owe everything to this game,” Katsande says. The academy, for him, is personal.

“I want to use my experience to help the next generation get scouted, get opportunities.”

But he’s not only giving back, he’s building forward. A lifelong fan of fashion, he launched Boss Ya Mboka in 2021. What began as a bold idea is now a rising label dressing clubs like Kwekwe United and Botswana’s Black Lions.

“As a footballer, if you look good, you play good. And that reflects how it will be difficult to separate the two.”

Breaking into fashion wasn’t easy.

“People stick to what they know,” he says.

“To stand out, you’ve got to think wilder. Stay creative. Keep customers coming back.”

His brand sits right where he wants it to; at the intersection of football and fashion.

“We’re growing in the space where football and fashion meet, because that’s where I belong.”

For Katsande, challenges are just part of the terrain.

“Where there’s success, there is struggle,” he says. “And I’m just getting started.”