Billie Jean King

By Jariel R & Manny R

 Where and when did Billie Jean live?
• Billie Jean King was born on November 22, 1943 in
Long Beach, California.

• Billie had only one sibling which was her brother

known as Randy Mottiff, and they were very
competitive growing up.

• Billie was the oldest child and at a young age was very
religious and even wanted to become a preacher which
did not last long due to how athletic she eventually
became.
What has the Moffitt family like?
• Billie’s father Bill was an engineer for the fire department, and her
mother was a homemaker and sold appliances on the side.

• The Moffitt’s were an extremely athletic family. Billie’s father played

basketball in highschool and college which allowed him the
opportunity to try out for an all NBA team.

• Billie Jean’s brother Randy who was born in 1948 played for a couple
MLB teams which were the San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros,
and the Toronto Blue Jays.

• Billie’s mother, Betty Mottiff was also a top swimmer of her class.
 Billie Jean’s education/training
• When Billie was only 14 years old she won her first
tennis championship in Southern California.
• Billie was trained at 15 years old by tennis champion
Alice Marble of the 1930s.
• Billie went to Long Beach Polytechnic High School
and she continued to work hard on her tennis skills at a
local country club.
• Billie went to Los Angeles State College for three
years. Even though she was one of the best players her
school decided not to give her a sports scholarship due
to her being female.
• After this experience Billie went on to win the
Wimbledon doubles championship which kick started
her career.
 39 90M
Grand Slam tennis titles Battle of the Sexes viewership

20
Career victories at Wimbledon
The Battle of the Sexes (1973)
How Billie Jean was an activist in women's rights?
• Billie Jean campaigned for equal treatment and equal reward money in
the men’s vs women’s tennis games.

• Billie was the first female athlete to earn over $100,000 in reward
money but although she made more than the usual female player she
still made on average 15,000-20,000 dollars less than the male players
of the time.

• Billie Jean also campaiged for LGBTQ rights later on in life after she
herself got married to a women by the name of Ilana Kloss (her tennis
doubles partner.)
 Notable things that Billie Jean did to stand up for the rights of women
• Billie joined the Virginia Slims Tour for women.

• Billie lead a march during the National Women’s

Conference of 1977.

• Billie defeated Bobby Briggs during the Battle of the

Sexes 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. No match before or since has been
so widely viewed.

• Billie was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,

by President Barack Obama for her work on rights of
women and the LGBTQ comunity in 2009.

• The California City Council named one of their library

the Billie Jean King Main Library to honor her.
The outcome of Billie Jean’s activist campaign
• Billie campaigned for equality in the world of professional tennis and
achieved her goal when the U.S. Open became the first major
tournament to offer equal prize money to both sexes which set a
precedent that many other tournaments followed and soon after with
other sports.
• Billie changed the way women were treated in the professional sports
industry and for the first time ever they were being treated fairly.
• Billie also campaigned for gay marriage and had a huge outreach
using her fame and voice to reach out to may and help gain these
rights for many people.
“Champions keep
playing until they
get it right.”
Billie Jean King
 Sources
• https://www.billiejeanking.com/biography/
• https://www.biography.com/athlete/billie-jean-king
• https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/0001606
0.html
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Billie-Jean-King
• https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/athlete/billie-j
ean-king/
Questions?