Stakeholders of Liberia Kickball Federation (LKF) at the weekend elected former Angels of the Sky (ASK Sisters) Vice President Emmanuel Surprise Whea as the new President of the Liberian Sport.
In a tight election, Surprise Whea collected 24 of the 43 votes cast to defeat the Incumbent J. Youver Kollie.
Surprise Whea had been Assistant Secretary-General for the LKF for the past twelve months just before the Saturday’s polls.
This result ended J. Youver Kollie’s eight years reign as President of the Liberia Kickball Federation.
Surprise Whea who is outgoing Chairman for the Grand Bassa County Sports Association might have been able to win one of Kickball’s powerful names, J.Youver Kollie from the platform he presented; though the eagerness for change in leadership in Liberia has been high since last year’s national election that saw George Weah becoming the first retired athlete to win Presidency in the Liberia.
Surprise Whea outlined five key priorities in his agenda for the growth and advancement for Kickball Sport which might have caught the interest of many of the Stakeholders.
Some of the issues highlighted in his platform were also outlined in the incumbent’s platform.
Like the issue of home for the LFA, decentralization of the sport, improvement of the national league and constitution reform were highlighted by both candidates in their platform.
Also, the man Surprise Whea put up as Vice President for Administration Solomon Ward succeeded in defeating the only female senior executive of the federation, Amie Wesseh.
Wards victory over Amie was the most shocking result at the Polls on Saturday as earlier indicators had shown that he was the second favorite.
The other positions were all won on white ballots.
Evan Soma was retained as Vice President for Operations as he had no challenger. It was also the same for the longest serving Secretary General Milton Padmore who retained his post on a white ballot.
Abu Fofana won the Assistant Secretary-General position as well on a white ballot.
Surprise Whea and the new team of LKF Executives will run kickball for the next four years in keeping with Sports Statutes.
The defeat of Amie Wesseh as Vice President for Administration has risen the debate about support to women to take over the leadership of the Liberia Kickball Federation.
The Sport is played by women, but the administration of the game continues to be controlled by men who do not play the sport.
All the coaches for the game are all male, while there are only four female referees amongst the more than 20 men officiating the sport.
