King grew up in California, the daughter of a fireman
and a mom known in the neighborhood as the “Avon lady.” Her parents were
humble folk who didn’t travel much – not even to New York to see their
world-ranked tennis prodigy capture one of four US Open singles’ titles.
Yet her mother and father have remained her mentors to this day. “They
taught me the disciplines of life, like accepting responsibility, being
disciplined, showing respect. Seeing how they worked so well together as
a team was very influential on me.” King’s dad passed away last year,
but her mom is still going strong.
Girl Scouts and softball were very much a part of Billie
Jean’s life in her early years. But then King was introduced to the game
of tennis. She took her first lesson at age eleven, molding the course
of her life. Within six years, she was ranked among the top ten women
tennis players in the world. Many members of the Long Beach Tennis
Patrons, impressed with her world-class talent, raised funds to send her
to England to compete at Wimbledon. At only 17, King captured a share of
the women’s doubles title, setting the foundation for one of the most
successful careers in women’s sports history. She would go on to win all
four major tennis championships (Wimbledon, French, Australian Open, and
US Open) and to coach teams to four Olympic medals. She achieved many
firsts, among them being the first female in any sport to earn more than
$100,000 in one season (1971); being the first woman to coach a coed
team in professional sports (1974); and becoming the first woman
commissioner in professional sports history (1984). Her leadership
skills, pioneering spirit, and service to humanity have resulted in
numerous honors including being named Outstanding Female Athlete of the
World in 1967 and becoming the first woman in history to be honored as
Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year in 1972. In 1990, Life
Magazine named King one of the 100 Most Important Americans of the 20th
century.
With all her success, it has been her passion for
women’s equality that has kept her focused on her mission to level the
playing field between men and women. “No one changes the world who isn’t
obsessed,” says King.
That obsession found its way to center court on
September 20, 1973, when King was challenged by former Wimbledon
champion and self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs to a $100,000
winner-take-all “Battle of the Sexes” match. The 55-yearold Riggs
taunted his 29-year-old opponent, claiming no woman could defeat a
professional male player because women were the weaker sex. But as a
record 30,000 fans at the Houston Astrodome watched in amazement, King
silenced Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, setting the foundation
for changing the landscape of gender equality for women and their
rights.
“Men still come up to me today, with tears in their
eyes, saying ‘that really changed my life.’ They tell me ‘I have a
daughter now, and I’m raising her very differently because I saw that
match,’” says King. “They insist their children now have equal
opportunity, both boys and girls. We call them ‘The First Generation of
Men of the Women’s Movement’ and they really are. That’s when I realized
I wanted to change things.”
She hasn’t stopped changing things since. From founding
the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973, to establishing the Women’s
Sports Foundation in 1974, to her role as a cofounder, CEO, and director
of World TeamTennis and World TeamTennis Charities, Billie Jean King
remains a strong advocate for women’s rights long after her competitive
playing days are over. “That match wasn’t just about women,” says King,
“it was about social change.” Title IX had been passed the year before
her match with Riggs. According to King, Title IX was as important as
the Equal Rights Amendment, civil rights, and a woman’s right to vote.
Young men were being given scholarships to the colleges of their choice,
but not young women. “I never got an athletic scholarship because I was
a girl,” she says. “The important thing is that we should be walking
side by side — men and women — helping each other on equal ground.”
King
envisioned the Women’s Sports Foundation as a vehicle to encourage girls
to be more physically active. Statistics prove that girls drop out of
sports twice as fast as boys do between the ages of eight and eighteen.
A girl’s self esteem, although high as a youngster, often drastically
drops when she reaches puberty. In King’s mind, staying in shape and
being physically fit go hand in hand with self-esteem.
“There are four things that the 21st century girl
needs.” says King. “Physical activity is number one. Economic
independence is second. Then leadership, and finally, respect for the
environment. As a matter of fact, World TeamTennis is the first league
to go green. That’s huge.”
In 1974, WTT’s charter season, King coached the
Philadelphia Freedoms. One of the team’s biggest fans was rocker Elton
John. “Philadelphia Freedom” came from that relationship, a mega-hit
co-written and performed by Elton, which rocketed to the top of the
music charts. That song fostered a longtime friendship that would
subsequently generate millions of dollars for charity. Over the last
fourteen years, World TeamTennis has hosted Smash Hits, where the best
female and male tennis professionals in the world come together to play
tennis. These players have donated their services and have helped the
Elton John AIDS Foundation raise millions of dollars.
As a champion of charitable causes, King has either
donated or helped raise millions of dollars for a number of non-profit
organizations. Established to promote social change, education, fitness,
and an overall healthy lifestyle, WTT is her brainchild, as is the WTT
Junior Nationals, played in San Diego, for junior tennis teams around
the country. Aside from tennis competition, players attend seminars to
help prepare them for college and life as an adult.
The Novo Nordisk Donnelly Awards annually bestows two
$5,000 scholarships to a pair of young people who have diabetes and play
tennis competitively. “I have diabetes in my family,” says King. “And my
first crush in second grade, Frazier Brant, had type one diabetes. I
remember his mom putting a packet of sugar in his back pocket and
telling me that if he ever gets sluggish and looks like he is about to
go to sleep, to take that sugar out of his back pocket and give it to
him. That’s when I first started to learn about diabetes.”
When the Women’s Sports Foundation celebrated its
thirtieth anniversary in 2004, a ten-million-dollar initiative, “Go Girl
Go,” was launched with the goal of getting one million girls physically
active, while deterring another one million from dropping out of
physical activity. Model communities were established in Atlanta,
Chicago, and San Antonio, with Boston set to launch later this year. The
concept behind the program is physical activity as a fundamental
solution to the serious health and societal problems facing girls today.
Since one in every six girls is obese or overweight, one in three teens
gets pregnant, and one in four girls in grades nine through twelve
smokes, “Go Girl Go” challenges girls to participate in sports and
physical activity to lower their risk for health problems including
obesity, depression, and heart disease.
“By the year 2015,” says King, “twenty percent of the
money spent in our country will be used on healthcare.” Her mission is
to drastically lower that statistic long before the year 2015 ever
arrives.
Few people have had the impact on their sport that
Billie Jean King has had on tennis. So it is no surprise that the United
States Tennis Association saw fit last summer to rename the National
Tennis Center, home of the US Open Tennis Championships, to the USTA
Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
King’s obvious legacy is tennis champion. But for her,
tennis served only as a stage to share a much greater message. For
decades, she has battled to empower women and educate men. At 63, she
continues to make a difference in her battle to teach the importance of
living life on a level playing field. “A great tennis player is what
people think I am. But it’s not about performance,” King says.
“Performance is fleeting, very temporary. It’s an honor and a
responsibility to take advantage of that opportunity. I think people see
me as a leader and an agent for social change. Some of us are very
blessed and it is up to us to pass it on.” And she intends to continue
to pass it on for years to come.
