The impact of Billie Jean King’s career and her work to empower women and female athletes is unmeasurable. This year especially holds a significance in the advancement of Women’s sports and so much of what Billie Jean King has worked for, as 2022 will mark 50 years since the enactment of Title IX. But long before advocating for Title IX and before she blazed a trail by winning Grand Slams and breaking barriers for Women and LGBT athletes, King started her tennis career in the same revolutionary way.
King bought her first racquet with her own money that she had saved at age eleven. She started her career by taking free lessons offered in Long Beach, California and waged a path of success towards a College career. Even as a Junior player, King had to push back against the norms of the time, defying the culture by wearing tennis shorts instead of a skirt as was prescribed in the 1950’s for female tennis players. Speaking to TogetherBand in 2020, King said this about her exprience being pushed out of a team photo because of her attire. “Ever since that day when I was 11 years-old, and I wasn’t allowed in a photo because I wasn’t wearing a tennis skirt, I knew that I wanted to change the sport.”
In 1958, King notably won the Southern California Junior Championships, a year before achieving her first National tennis ranking in 1959. While attending Cal State Los Angeles, King didn’t waste any time making waves in the Professional world, winning her first Wimbledon title in 1961. This was only the beginning, as King ended her career with 39 Grand Slam titles and despite this massive success, her off-court accomplishments are arguably more impressive. King worked tirelessly in the 1970’s to promote Women’s tennis, pioneering the first Professional Women’s tennis tournament. King had to fight through a lack of investment, as well as a lack of support from both outside and inside tennis. In her 2021 Memoir ‘All In’ King wrote about her goals in contrast to the position of women’s sports. “There was this gap between what I thought I was capable of and the world as it was. I saw that gulf clearly. I was less sure how to breach it.”
King eventually went on to become one of the most impactful figures in progressing female athletes and sports as a whole. She famously helped publicize Women’s tennis and brought a mass of eyes to the sport in 1973 when, to an audience of over 90 Million, she defeated Bobby Riggs in the infamous ‘Battle of the Sexes.’ In doing so, King not only won $100000 but bolstered the pride of Women’s tennis. King said “I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match. It would ruin the women’s tour and affect all women’s self-esteem. To beat a 55-year-old guy was no thrill for me. The thrill was exposing a lot of new people to tennis.”
King continued to positively impact Women’s Sports for the rest of her career and even after retirement, becoming the first president of the Women’s Players Union in 1973 and being the League Commissioner of World Team Tennis starting in 1982. King not only influenced the structures and organization of tennis, but also in outspokenly advocating for Women’s rights, inspired generations of female athletes to compete at every level. King has also been a role model and a trailblazer for LGBT athletes since 1981 when she was outed as gay, and has been one of the most famous and important examples of LGBT athletes in the world.
One of King’s most important contributions to Women’s Sports started in 1972 as she testified on Capital Hill on behalf of Title IX, a tremendously important piece of legislation that prohibits gender discrimination in public education and federally assisted programs, including high school and collegiate athletic programs. Since Title IX’s passage, female participation at the high school level has grown by 1057 percent and by 614 percent at the college level, and since 1974, has run the Women’s Sports Foundation in part to protect the sports side of Title IX.
King’s influence will always be felt in the world of Sports, especially Women’s Sports, but in Southern California, her impact is even more relevant. The USTA’s U16 & U18 Girl’s National Championships held in August are named in honor of Billie Jean King and the tournament attracts the Nations best female Junior players, all of whom stand on the shoulders of King and continue her legacy.