A $5,000 check won by Billie Jean King 50 years ago helped create Women's Sports Foundation

Billie Jean King’s $5,000 cheque definite went a agelong mode for women’s sports

NEW YORK -- Billie Jean King’s $5,000 cheque definite went a agelong mode for women’s sports.

King utilized the wealth from a sportswoman of the twelvemonth grant to motorboat the Women’s Sports Foundation successful 1974. Since then, the instauration has invested much than $100 cardinal to assistance girls and women summation opportunities and equity successful sports.

At the Empire State Building connected Thursday, King attended a solemnisation with WSF president Scout Bassett and WSF CEO Danette Leighton up of the iconic landmark being lit successful the instauration colors of blue, red, pinkish and yellow.

King said the foundation's "bold enactment has contributed to galore transformative moments … to assistance girls and women execute their diversion dreams, portion eliminating barriers that basal successful the way. And our enactment is not done yet.”

Through research, advocacy and assemblage programming, the WSF aims to guarantee equity successful sports opportunities, equipment, facilities and pay. It provides Sports 4 Life programs for underserved girls, question and grooming grants, mentorship and enactment for Title IX compliance.

King started the instauration a twelvemonth aft the transition of Title IX, the national instrumentality that prohibits enactment favoritism successful immoderate schoolhouse oregon acquisition programme that receives national funds.

Vice President Kamala Harris precocious hosted an lawsuit to grant women successful sports successful solemnisation of Women’s History Month.

“Leaders passim the state are recognizing what the Women’s Sports Foundation has known since 1974: erstwhile girls and women play, they lead, and we each win,” Leighton said.

The enactment besides works to turn the coaching pipeline done the Tara VanDerveer Fund for the Advancement of Women successful Coaching. The Stanford hoops manager precocious retired arsenic the winningest manager successful NCAA history.

The WSF volition clasp its yearly awards meal Oct. 16 successful New York and observe “50 Years of Changing the Game.” It volition big astir 100 athletes and grant a sportswoman of the twelvemonth successful the idiosyncratic and squad categories.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis