Overview

• Founded in 1994 to foster reconciliation after the civil war, the National Kickball League has grown into Liberia’s second-most popular sport behind soccer
• Players follow baseball rules but kick a soccer ball instead of swinging bats, a format introduced by a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s
• Despite professional status, female kickball athletes like Saydah A. Yarbah earn “not even near” the pay of male athletes in other sports due to chronic underfunding
• Leadership roles—coaches, referees, and officials—are all held by men, underscoring persistent gender disparities within the league
• President Emmanuel Whea plans to add male divisions and expand the league to other African nations to broaden its reach and cultural impact