‘I Had My Epiphany at 12’- Legendary Billie Jean King Details an Inspiring Story of How She Used Tennis to Fight for Equality

Pioneer of equal pay in sports, Billie Jean King got a lot of praise for her hard work behind it. Billie was present at the Ellen show recently, where guest host Brandi Carlile interviewed the legendary American. The occasion for the interview was for Billie Jean’s new book “All In”.

But when it’s Billie Jean in the front seat, the topic of equality will surface for sure. The 78-year-old athlete gave a lot to the fight and succeeded as US Open started with an equal pay system.

Billie Jean reminded the day she had the idea behind equality

On February 22, 2022, US Soccer players had a big win when their women’s national team players filed a complaint about inequality in pay. Later, the U.S. Soccer Federation agreed to a landmark $24 million agreement as it included the amount owed to female players.

Regarding this big win, lyricist-turned-interviewer Brandy asked how Billie Jean King sees this as work of her foundation.

“I just want to have equality period since I was 12 years old. I had my Epiphany at 12. I was daydreaming at Los Angeles Tennis Club, I talked to myself that everyone wears white shoes. White cloths play with white balls, play with white socks”

This led her to think about other players. Billie added, “I thought to myself, where is everybody else? So I made a promise that day I will fight for equality for the rest of my life. And I knew that tennis was global, that I had a chance. But I knew the girl as a saint claret citizen, it would be much harder.”

Billie Jean considered that being a Tennis player helped her a lot on a global level as she considered the sport as a “platform” for social Justice.

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50 years for the “equality” fight

As per the records, On September 23rd 1970, Billie Jean King and eight other women’s professional tennis players who vouched for equal pay launched their tour. The players signed $1 contracts to counter the inequality.

It got huge coverage and especially the photo of the “Original 9” holding up $1 bills caught people’s attention. In 1973, superstar Billie Jean King threatened to boycott US Open for unequal pay, which was finally accepted by the organizers. Five decades later, all Grand Slam tournaments now have equal pay system present.

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