-As Senator Joseph Gives Green Light
Montserrado County Senator Saah H. Joseph and LKF President Emmanuel Surprise Whea at the well-attended occasion of kickball stakeholders.
The Liberia Kickball Federation (LKF), the umbrella body of Liberia’s traditional sport, kickball, is on the verge of hitting the jackpot if all the favorable commitments made by Montserrado County Senator Saah H. Joseph on the precious Friday evening of June 30, 2023, are actualized to the fullest.
Like football, kickball is played in every community and at the height of the country’s most prestigious sports festival, the National County Sports Meet (NCSM), thus making it the second most popular sport in the country. However, the game remains the most underfunded sport by the Government of Liberia (GoL).
But as things stand, it seems that the LKF leadership and all kickball stakeholders now have a lot to smile about on the back of the visit of the Montserrado County Senator.
Speaking during the well-attended meeting with Sen. Joseph, LKF President Emmanuel Suprise Whea put forth the most pressing needs of the LKF that would take the game to another level.
Among the key requests cataloged to the Montserrado County lawmaker, the LKF boss named the construction of a mini-sport pitch exclusively for kickball, a bus that would help ease the transportation burden off the shoulders of teams’ presidents, bathrooms, and other basic logistical supports.
In addition, Mr. Whea did not leave out the issue of financial support for the successful running of the leagues across the country.
“Our main plea at this point is, please help us to fix our field. As the country makes many strides towards women’s empowerment, this is a sport only played by women that has no support, so attention must be drawn in this direction. Our females come onto the various pitches to play and then, in the end, go home without anything. It’s only through the sacrifice of others, especially the various teams’ presidents, that we all survive. The challenges are enormous, and we have been fighting and fighting; yet, we continue to find it difficult to get the needed support,” stated the LKF President.
“Honorable Senior Senator, the main reason why we are here is to tell you to help fix our pitch. We want you to please tell the President to take us from dust to tuff. We want a mini-playing pitch specifically for kickball. Another challenge is transportation. We just need a bus that will help transport our teams. Our clubs spend huge amounts on transportation and get nothing in return. We also need bathrooms for our players, match officials, and even the fans who come to grace these games. And at this time, we are going to be clear in our engagement. If you do us, we do you. The LKF will no longer be silent in these elections because it is our silence that got us to where we are today,” Whea added.
The meeting was initially scheduled to be held with the Montserrado County Senator, who is also a top-ranking member of the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), alongside the Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), but the latter did not show up.
However, the cries by the LKF were all given the green light by the Senator, who is bidding for his first nine-year tenure, having been elected five years ago to end the tenure of former Senator George Manneh Weah, following his (Weah’s) election to the country’s highest political seat, the presidency, in the 2017 Presidential and Legislative Elections.
Accordingly, as stakeholders held on to listen to the responses of Sen. Joseph on the different requests made, the few minutes that followed were occasioned by cheering and dancing as the Senator gave the issues the green light.
“I will support all of the teams because I am aware of the challenges. I am happy to be here with you, and for you too to wait so patiently just to be here with me,” he noted.
“Among all the things listed, we will first start with the bathrooms. So please ask the authorities of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and if they approve it, I will start the bathrooms immediately. The message about the pitch is that I will ensure that we have another meeting where the President himself will be in attendance. You deserve a level playing field here, and we will do our best to help you because you deserve better. I am going to give that message to the President. But while we await the President, you can count on us, and we will provide our own support,” the Montserrado County Senator, among other things, assured the gathering.
