Billie Jean King: Women Athletes Should Remain Focused on Fight for Equality

Tennis legend Billie Jean King says that female athletes should continue to strive for equality despite the challenges arising out of the current global health crisis across the world. 

The 12 time Grand Slam singles champion and winner of 39 Grand Slam titles in all, was speaking on an online panel event titled #WeKeepPlaying which was hosted by King's Women's Sports Foundation and Yahoo Sports.

King said she hoped to provide comfort and encouragement to the people who tuned in to watch the show during these difficult times. Besides her accomplishments on the tennis court, King has been also been a pioneer of the women's tennis circuit in the 1970s; is famous for beating Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes match in 1973; and for pushing for equal prize money for women in tennis.

She has been an activist for equality rights for women as well as the LGBTQI+ community over the past many years.

King said she wants today's players to think about the future as well and her goals for women's tennis was to make sure all girls would have a place to compete, that women would be valued more for their accomplishments than their looks, and to ensure female athletes earned enough to make a living.

Others who spoke on the panel included Kendall Coyne Schofield, a forward for the United States women's national team, Coyne Schofield, an Olympic gold medallist who played for NWHL's Minnesota Whitecaps and U.S. national team soccer midfielder Carli Lloyd.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2KbOfE1