A girl didn’t get an athletic scholarship until the fall of 1972 for the very first time.
BILLIE JEAN KINGAt 62 you want to keep moving; that’s important.
More Billie Jean King Quotes
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It’s about learning your craft. That’s a wonderful thing–especially with today’s consumerism and instant gratification.
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If you have one gay experience, does that mean you’re gay? If you have one heterosexual experience, does that mean you’re straight? Life doesn’t work quite so cut and dried.
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There is no life for girls in team sports past Little League. I got into tennis when I realized this, and because I thought golf would be too slow for me, and I was too scared to swim.
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Don’t be afraid to hit the ball.
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When they take surveys of women in business, of the Fortune 500, the successful women, 80% of them, say they were in sports as a young woman.
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That’s why my place in the all-time rankings means so very little to me, because I know I won’t be anybody’s number one, and it’s that same old thing: if you’re not number one, then what does it really matter?
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Bobby Riggs was one of my heroes. I admired him. That’s one of the reasons I beat him – because I respected him.
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Ladies, here’s a hint. If you’re up against a girl with big boobs, bring her to the net and make her hit backhand volleys. That’s the hardest shot for the well-endowed.
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I always liked co-ed events best so we have two men and two women on each team.
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Champions adjust and pressure is a privilege.
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I think one of the concerns, anytime you’re in the human business, like sports, it’s a very high – risk endeavor.
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Sports are a microcosm of society. It just shows how much more competition there is in the world.
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Women’s sports is still in its infancy. The beginning of women’s sports in the United States started in 1972, with the passage of Title 9 for girls to finally get athletic scholarships.
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I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it.
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Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life.
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The trouble with being number one in the world – in anything- is that it takes a certain mentality to attain that position, and that is something of a driving, perfectionist attitude, so that once you do achieve number one, you don’t relax and enjoy it.
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Sports are a microcosm of society.
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In the complete overall history of tennis, I figure I’ll be worth a sentence or two….
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When I was outed, it was like, That’s done.
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I didn’t really care if I had a coach that much, me personally, because I was brought up to think for myself.
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Winning is very tangible, it’s very exciting, it’s very pleasing, but it’s momentary. If you can do things that last, that each generation can build upon, then that’s when you’re cooking.
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Don’t worry about what people say.
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I will tell you King’s First Law of Recognition: You never get it when you want it, and then when it comes, you get too much.
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In 1973, a woman could not get a credit card without her husband or father or a male signing off on it.
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I always respect right off the bat because we are human, but then over time you learn who the person truly is, just like they learn about you.
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Men can have a huge turnover of sponsorship and still survive a lot better than the women. But the women’s ratings are better, at least at home in the United States than in the men’s tennis.
BILLIE JEAN KING