Billie Jean King will be at C2 Montreal | Moving forward, always

If women win the same scholarships as men in Grand Slam tennis tournaments, if women have their own professional association, if members of the LGBTQ+ community can be themselves, if young girls who learn tennis have the right to dream, it’s thanks to Billie Jean King.

Nicholas Richard
The Press

In an exclusive interview with The PressM^me King has confirmed that she will be in Montreal on September 28 to give a conference as part of C2 Montreal at Place Ville Marie.

In this interview of about forty minutes, time was a predominant theme. The time that flies away, the time that remains and the time that must be captured at every moment. The one that needs to be changed and the one that fixes things. So much the worse and so much the better.

And there was talk of his cause today. Her fight for the representation of female athletes and sports in the public space. “Women only get 4% of media attention. Women don’t get the attention and contracts they deserve, because no one knows who we are, and that’s why we need to tell more of these athletes’ stories. »

The first time that M.^me King came to Montreal to see a specialist after major knee surgery. It was January somewhere in the mid-1970s. It never got hotter than -14 degrees Celsius, she recalls. The Long Beach, Southern California native was branded at the time. Meanwhile, her snow-loving dog Lucy was having a dream. This is the first memory she has of the Quebec metropolis. An important parenthesis in his career, because it is what allowed him to continue to write the history of his sport.

When he retired in 1983, Mr.^me King had won 129 titles, including 39 Grand Slams (12 singles, 16 women’s doubles and 11 mixed doubles).

Her most significant victory is still that of September 20, 1973, when she beat former world number one Bobby Riggs in a historic match. “The Battle of the Sexes”, watched by more than 90 million viewers worldwide, proved that women could beat men. And offered iconic status to Billie Jean King.

Communicate

Billie Jean King was 12 when she had her “epiphany”. One of her childhood friends had convinced her to try tennis, this discipline she had never heard of. At home, it was more about basketball and baseball.

She had been playing at the Los Angeles tennis club for a year when she noticed that all the other players were white, they were dressed in white and they were playing with white balls. It was then that she wondered, “Where are all the others? »

She had just found her mission.

Like her firefighter father, she chose to put out fires. Then, in a way, to save lives.

To achieve this, she had to become the best tennis player in the world. For her, it was the only way to be heard. She achieved it, between 1966 and 1974. “I didn’t know the word ‘platform’ at the time, but I understood that I could reach out to people, because tennis is a global sport”, recounts her with the verve of her 78 years.

A few decades later, she has the luxury of still being listened to when she speaks. The ears of the whole world pay attention to him. “I like to share, motivate and train. It’s really wonderful. »

M^me King is also keen to make the past count. “The more you know about history, the more you know about yourself. More importantly, history helps create the future. We are always in between. Between understanding what happened, and the future, to move forward and not repeat the same mistakes. »

To transmit

Even if she is nostalgic, the one who received the Medal of Freedom from the hands of President Barack Obama in 2009 has always been considered a visionary. Or better yet, a pioneer.

In September 1970, along with eight other players, she left the Women’s Tour where she was earning just $45 a day to create the Virginia Slims Circuit, where she could create a nurturing and viable environment for women’s tennis. “We were ready to sacrifice our careers for the next generations. It was huge. »

This revolution would lead three years later to the creation of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), as we know it today. The same year, in 1973, Mr.^me King had the sweat of his brow convinced the organizers of the United States Open to offer the same scholarships to women and men. The battle will have lasted 34 years before all major tournaments adhere to this principle.

“When Bianca [Andreescu] won the US Open a few years ago, she got a big check. Why ? Thanks to this day of September 23, 1970. That’s why it’s important to dwell on history, ”she explains.

Three reasons had motivated these courageous women to defy the established order. First, they wanted to give tennis players around the world the chance to evolve in a healthy environment. Then, to be recognized and highlighted for their performance and not just for their physical appearance. Then, to make tennis their real job.

The operation was successful since a year later, she became the first sportswoman in history to receive more than $100,000 in the same year. She had won $117,000.

Be

Being Billie Jean King can sometimes be a heavy burden. Affirmation which made the main interested party laugh. “I like to say that the pressure is a privilege. »

The key: stay yourself and live in the present moment. She drew a parallel with her sport: “It’s like watching the ball in tennis, that’s the main thing. Fifty percent of missed shots at the professional level are because you haven’t watched the ball all the way through. »

She is convinced that it is in the present moment that we perform best. This recipe probably worked well for him, even if some people didn’t like it.

“My generation was in trouble because we always wanted to push the limits. It’s good to be a spoilsport, but you have to make sure you’re doing the right thing. You don’t just have to make headlines to make headlines. »

She nevertheless made it to the list of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century.^e magazine century Lifein addition to being named one of the greatest athletes of the century by the magazine Sports Illustrated. Like what doing good and being yourself pays off.

Continue

The legend of Billie Jean King has crossed the ages. Since its birth in the 1940s, in the middle of World War II, it has lived through the revolution of the 1960s, the madness of the 1970s, the conservatism of the 1980s and 1990s and the arrival of new technologies in the 21^e century. All these eras have formed it.

Today, she wants to see women’s sport grow in the public space. Although she retired 40 years ago, Ms.^me King still speaks of athletes in the first person plural. As if she was still one and wanted to participate in the fight with her sisters.

“We’re just getting started,” she swears. The person who will convince her to lay down her arms is probably not yet born. With all she has accomplished, been through and endured, she could have retired to the comfort of her property in New York City and enjoyed a well-deserved retirement. And yet.

In her opinion, the popularity of women’s sport is about to explode. He wouldn’t miss much. “We are starting to get more attention, but if we had 30 or 40% of all the media attention, that would change a lot of things. That’s why it’s important to write about us, to make us known. »

She has also taken great means to achieve this, telling herself that the best way to change things would be to infiltrate a world dominated by men. That of finance and business management. A few years ago, she founded BJK Enterprises, in addition to acquiring stakes in different professional teams, such as her childhood team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

She fundamentally believes that more women need to become homeowners. Otherwise, no one will speak on their behalf and no decision will be made for them.

“We want women to be involved in all aspects of the sport, not just to play, but also to lead. Women must be involved in financial decisions. I don’t like how girls and guys are associated with money differently. »

Dream

Throughout her prolific career, Billie Jean King has been told no. The highest authorities of the sporting and financial world wanted to extinguish his dreams.

As Elton John, one of his closest friends and allies, once said, “you have to live every second without hesitation”, and M^me King took him at his word. Time is precious. The interview, which could have lasted all day, ended with the following question: “Today, what is your biggest dream? »

His answer was unequivocal.

An answer that may surprise more than one, but directly related to his most recent projects.

Although she says hockey is “a wonderful sport,” but she’s never been a big fan — “I wasn’t introduced to it in Southern California because we didn’t have the Kings in my time” – she believes in the future of women’s hockey and she wants to help the players.

That’s why she helped found, together with his wife Ilana Kloss, the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA).

When the players came to her, she asked them a single question: “Do you have a union or an association? They answered in the negative. From experience, she believes that was the first thing to do, and since then “they have done a good job”.

She added that “we are on the right track, but we have to do more for women’s hockey. Players also need to talk to girls of color, but they know it’s really important. Now they are trying to survive. »

Exactly, to survive. As a result of this conversation with one of the greatest ladies in sports history, one conclusion emerges among many. Billie Jean King and other female athletes have always fought, risking their careers, to survive. Now they want to exist.