Billie Jean King was among the women who had a deeply profound and meaningful impact on women’s sports. This article is meant to take you through how much she did for women’s sports and why she deserves all the recognition and more.
A spark to fight for equality for women was first ignited when she was rebuked for a group photo when she was twelve years old. She would later realize that this was part of a huge problem. Later on, when she was herself a victim of the gap in prize money across her counterparts, she began to divert her attention to fighting for equality.
Along with eight other women tennis players, she signed a $1 contract with a circuit to fight against the gap in prize winnings. Thereon, she founded and presided over the Women’s Tennis Association, which has now expanded to become the primary organizational body for women’s tennis tours and camps and has played a significant role in making a better future for women’s tennis. Her relentless determination and advocacy meant that the US Open became the first major tennis tournament to offer equal winnings to both men and women, which later went on to be something all four Grand Slams offered.
Billie Jean King also testified on behalf of Title IX and to speak to its need in order for girls and women to advance in their sport. Title IX, prohibiting gender discrimination and lack of accessibility on a specific basis in institutions functioning on federal funding in the US in 1972. It remains the only law in the US to promote any sort of gender equality. The law has been an active barrier to discrimination and has opened doors to women in sports. Even though there are still significant issues in the US, since Title IX came into effect, female participation at the high school level has grown by 1057 percent and by 614 percent at the college level. More opportunities have emerged for young women to turn their sport into their career, particularly in the WNBA. Professional coaching opportunities also experienced a rise for women.
The same year, former No.1 ranked men’s tennis player Bobby Riggs announced that he believed women’s sports were inferior to that of men’s and proclaimed he could easily beat King. Billie Jean King went on to accept the challenge, which would go on to become a vital moment in women’s sports history. The match was termed “The Battle of the Sexes” and an approximated ninety million people watched as King defeated Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. It was a leap in the right direction.
Billie Jean King co-founded World Team Tennis, a co-ed professional league, in 1974. She also co-founded women's sports magazine and founded the Women’s Sports Foundation aimed at increasing accessibility to sports for women. In 2014, she founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, a non-profit organization.
She was named one of the 20th Century’s “100 Most Important Americans” by Life magazine in 1990. She was also the first women athlete to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama for her advocacy work on behalf of women and the LGBTQ community.
She did so much for the community and achieved significant milestones, and can only be regarded as one of the most vital stakeholders who relentlessly fought for equality.
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