Billie Jean King

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"Champions keep playing until they get it right" (Billie Jean King). Known as women's tennis most inspiring number one champion, Billie Jean King didn't stop just when she won. She kept fighting for more equal rights for female athletes everywhere. Billie Jean King helped women's sports to where it is today. She was born in Southern California on November 22, 1943 and growing up there. As a child, the King family really encouraged their children into athletics. Her father being an engineer for a fire department, played a key role in her early childhood. When King won her first Wimbledon singles championship in 1966 and again in 1967, it really helped her status as a leader for women's equal rights in sports. Throughout her life, all the championships she won was nothing compared to the match at the Astrodome in Houston. It was where she won the recognition of everyone towards female athletes, it was called "The Battle of the Sexes". She still works on her movement for women's liberation today. As a hero Billie Jean King possesses bravery and determination. Her bravery gave her the strength to stand against the inequalities. Her determination pushed her to prove everyone that women athletes deserve a change. Billie Jean King is a deserving hero for her bravery, determination, and her acts that inspire others to do the same today.

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Billie Jean King applied her bravery not only in a tennis match but outside in her work towards equality in sports. During one of her tennis matches, "In 1972 she spoke out against the unfairness when she received only $10,000 for winning the U.S. Open, while male champion Ilie Nastase received $25,000" (Baughman). In the sport tennis, mainly dominated by men, equality did not exist for women. But when Billie Jean King got this treatment, she would not tolerate it. Standing up for herself and others, was something not many female athletes had done yet. Not receiving the same prize money gave her courage to make a stand. For herself and others, it was not something many women athletes had done yet. Getting challenged by men's tennis used to be number one champion, become the most watched match, "Her status as a leader in the feminist cause reached a zenith in September of 1973, when she faced the 1939 men's tennis champion Bobby Riggs in a nationally televised match at the Houston Astrodome. King easily beat the aging Riggs and emerged as the winner of what had been billed as the "Battle of the Sexes"" ("Billie Jean King"). Bobby Riggs known as one of the men's tennis champion challenged King as a joke, but she never took it as a joke. As Riggs was doing interviews, Billie Jean King spent much time practicing. Her fearlessness gave her the power to beat Riggs in the end. Surprising everyone with the outcome of the match, changed the experience for women the court from then on. It really put women's sports in the spotlight. With having the strong drive on the court, it proved very useful when King would not decline a challenge that would affect the views on female athletes.

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King's determination help make sure that she could do the impossible, like fighting for a sport that is dominated by men. Tennis champion Bobby Riggs, thought a match against King was going to be nothing. King believed different, "He lost in three straight sets, and she won the goodwill of the American public, over forty million of whom had watched the match on television" (Baughman). Believing in herself gave her the power to beat an opponent. When odds weren't in her favor, that didn't stop her from mindset to win. Going against everyone's beliefs and believing in herself gave her the strength to beat a strong opponent. Billie Jean King didn't go by the rules and what was already set for her. She made sure that there were always things to improve on, change. "This is a culmination of a lifetime in sport. Tennis has always been reserved for the rich, the white, the males - and I've always pledged to change all that. There's still a lot to be done, but this is certainly a great high point" (Ware). King believed there was always room to change. Also anything should be able to adapt for the equality of both genders. Through Billie Jean King's determination to her sport and women everywhere, she made changes that will stay for the on going future.

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Through King's efforts to change the already decided, through her bravery and through her determination, she has inspired others to follow her own foot steps. King proved to many people, how women could do any sport men could do, and how the change in gender should not make a difference in a sport she was so passionate about. Furthermore, being known as a number one women's tennis champion, King is most known for her work for all women in any sport. Also, she has put a bigger spotlight on tennis to the whole world. She became an inspiration to women and even men. Instead of only caring about herself she gave the power to others to do something they wouldn't do. Billie Jean King was not only sided to women, but wanted to make sure men fully understood women. She empowered people like her to take a stand if something wasn't right. Billie Jean King pursued what she loved what she felt needed to be changed, and without her bravery and determination, female athletes would not have the chance it has today.

Works Cited

"Billie Jean King." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale, 2004.

14-15. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

"King, Billie Jean 1943-." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 8: 1970-1979.

Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.

Ware, Susan. "Billie Jean King And The 'Incomplete' Revolution In Women's Sports." Here

Now RSS. N.p., 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 May

2016.http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/04/14/billie-jean-king