By S. Siapha Mulbah
The Liberia Kickball Federation (LKF) has intensify campaign on taking the playing pitches of the lone women sport in the country to another level that is from dust to turf.
The federation said the quest of having kickball players holding their league matches on turfs will preserve respect for the female athletes and introduce dignity to sports across the country.
Speaking over the weekend to this paper, LKF’s President, Emmanuel Whea, said the campaign was initiated in 2022 before the National County Sports Meet when the season came to an end.
He said Kickball is a sports that has empowered the lives of women over the years since its introduction in the country up to date and will continue to do so only if respect for the game is taken into consideration.
“Liberian women and girls feel the best part of life when they are on the pitch playing the country’s traditional sport kickball. It is a game that is attributed to them and we are to the task at the federation to make their dreams come to reality,” he said.
Whea intimated that it is time for stakeholders in the sporting arena to give back to the kickball game by taking ownership so that there will be a better future for the game.
“We have had series of challenges that other sports may not be entangled with but it remains a fact that the game is actually for Liberia and it is only Liberians that will make it what it ought to be,” he noted.
Meanwhile the Liberia Kickball Federation has kicked off the new league season in both league one and two with the 2022 awards pending for next month (March).
The Federation’s President said the new season is expected to showcase the hidden talent in Liberian female and have them presented to the society for positivity.
Whea added that the season will ensure that players under various clubs go to the pitch with the best sportsman conduct as a means to maintain the rules of the game and avoid it being boring and lawless.
“Last year teams were suspended and there were other punitive actions taken against people that violated our guidelines. Like all other sports kickball is a discipline of order and meekness so this new season, we are going to make sure that professional kickball is played in Liberia with respect to the game rules,” he maintained.
LKF however is calling on the government, international partners and sport pundits to see their request of having better playing pitches in the country as a holistic national developmental appeal rather than just sport.
