In Liberia’s version of baseball, there are no bats and no men
It’s just before kick off and the Girls of Aries get the adrenaline going with a team song. The Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium in Monrovia is full of anticipation. This is kickball, a mix of soccer and baseball. It’s played with the feet, not bats as in baseball, and in Liberia, there are no men involved. (AP video by Annie Risemberg)
It was a flawless pitch. The ball zipped across home plate—only to be met with a powerful kick. Perryline Jimmie took off toward first base as her teammates burst into cheers on the sidelines.
At 23, Jimmie is a professional kickball player in Liberia, where the sport—a close cousin of baseball—holds a special place, especially among women. Played across the country on schoolyards, public squares, and dirt fields, kickball has grown since its introduction in the 1960s to become Liberia’s second-most popular sport, after soccer.
The game follows the basic rules of baseball, but with some key differences: there are no bats, and players use a soccer ball instead of the lighter rubber ball common elsewhere.
And in Liberia, kickball is strictly a women’s game—there are no male players.
“In Liberia, (kickball) is our tradition,” said Jimmie, who noted many girls start playing kickball from an early age. “This is why you see women playing kickball in Liberia.”
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