Women's Sports: The New International Takeover
Billie Jean King, a pro tennis player, founder and advocate of women's sporting. King started her career in a competitive and determined state of mind and managed to keep that same devotion throughout her career, eventually developing the Women's Sport Foundation (WSF). King was in the prime of her professional tennis career at a time when woman and sports was not a publicized event. This is somewhat still the case today; many of women’s sports go unnoticed and often times don't go to a skill level beyond college.
The New York Times writer, Hal Higdon, wrote an article, “Plays Tennis Like a Man, Speaks out like Like- Billie Jean King”, which tells the story of Billie Jean King’s journey to becoming a pro tennis player. King became the women's tennis top ranked player in a matter of years once she won her first serious tournament at the adolescence of 15 using her aggressive net-rushing style to work her way through her competition. King started her tennis career off at the age of 11, only 14 years later ranking as number one in women's tennis. King claimed multiple titles including three Grand slam titles and six Wimbledon singles championships. After the peaks of her tennis career she began to advocate for woman who wanted to play tennis just as she had, and in 1973 she developed the Women's Tennis Association. A year later (1974), King decided to advocate for women of all sports, enforcing the equality between women and men; she founded the Women's Sports Foundation. The WSF (Women's Sports Foundation) provides succour to women and girls to become more active and involved in sports. They also visit other organizations and cater scholarships and grants to ambitious athletic women. The WSF soon became the ropes for the participation of women in sports.
The Women’s Sports Foundation published an article on June 20, 2011, “Our History”, on the Women’s Sports Foundation website explaining the accomplishments they made in 1974-2008. The Women’s Sports Foundation was founded in 1974 by pro tennis player Billie Jean King. At the time of the formation of this foundation, women were not seen as high level athletes and received little to no sycophancy for their attainments in the sport they thrived in. The Women's Sports Foundation is a non-profit organization that takes donations of money, time and sports equipment. This organization was produced with one goal in mind to bolster woman who want to engage in sports. That goal has been accomplished for about 42 years to this day. Throughout their 42 years of campaigning for women’s sports, they have made countless achievements, such as publishing their first College Athletic Scholarship Guide for women “at a time when few opportunities existed for women to compete in college athletics, and there was virtually no media coverage of the few competitive opportunities”(History) in 1975, opening a toll free information line in 1980. In 1990, they started awarding “Grants for Girls” and eventually generating a curriculum and sports education program grant called GoGirlGo!, and opening the Billie Jean King International Women’s Sports Hall Of Fame on May 7th 2008.
Billie Jean King managed to create an organization and a name for herself in the world of women's sport. The organization that King gives life to has impacted the world of sports so dramatically. Woman will forever be thankful for the achievements that the WSF has made over the years.
Works cited
Higdon, Hal. "Plays Tennis Like a Man, Speaks Out Like — Billie Jean King."The New York Times. The New York
Times, 24 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.
"Women's Sports Foundation." Women's Sports Foundation. Women's Sports Foundation, 20 June 2011. Web.
22 Feb. 2016.