Billie Jean King’s Path to Grand Marshal – Pasadena Star News

On Wednesday morning, January 1, Billie Jean King and her wife, Ilana Kloss, will step into a 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III for a ride like no other.

With 50 million people around the globe tuning in, she takes an 8.5-mile slow drive along Colorado Boulevard and waves to thousands personally gathered to watch the 136th Tournament of Roses Parade.

In an era when many yearn for long-gone heroes who fought the battles that changed society for the better, on Wednesday in the old classic car, millions have the chance to see one – alive, smiling, happy, still moving the limits of a fairer world: cutting-edge sports and civil rights. Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal.

• See also: Rose Parade 2025 lineup: Your guide to every float, band and riding unit, in order

For Billie Jean King, millions tuning in to see her do something special is, of course, nothing new. Think Wimbledon or her several other tennis Grand Slam titles. Think “Battles of the Sexes” in 1973, when she proved a man wrong in a huge match that the women’s game was somehow inferior to the men’s. Think The President’s Medal of Freedomthe nation’s highest civilian honor.

“You have no idea how excited I am, this is like a dream come true,” King has said of the moment, recalling when she and her mother Betty made a big deal out of watching the parade as a young girl .

That was back in Long Beach, long before the achievements and accolades. It was there when Billie Jean Moffitt was born to a fireman and a homemaker.

It was the 1940s, World War II America, united by the war, where one could see early glimpses of change in what remained a society whose power structures were dominated by men. Women found themselves needed in the workplace to replace men who went off to war.

It heralded the larger change—and the forces against that change—that would be the context of King’s pioneering life.

It was a path forged with a tennis racket on the public courts of Long Beach. A Poly High School graduate whose Long Beach roots run deepshe fell in love with tennis at 11, when she bought her first racket.

“I’m going to be No. 1 in the world,” Billie Jean told her mother, Betty.

“My parents raised two fiercely competitive athletes, and yet they didn’t care if we won or lost,” she told Southern California News Group columnist Rich Archbold in 2023. “Instead, they encouraged us to always do our best.”

But there was something else. As talented and hardworking as King was, the unequal standards for women, as opposed to men, to play the game did not sit well with King as she attempted to ascend the last of professional sports.

There was that time in the early 1950s, at a tournament at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, where she was excluded from a group photo of junior tennis players. Why? Because she wore the tennis shorts her mother made for her instead of the traditional tennis dress worn by female players.

It was another glimpse of things to come on her journey.

Even as a young teenager, injustice fueled her. From Long Beach to her college years at Cal State Los Angeles (1961 to 1964) to Wimbledon became her career of breaking social barriers even as she won tennis matches.

Career highlights are undeniably amazing.

When she was just 17, she won her first women’s doubles title at Wimbledon. In her career, she won 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles.

Between 1961 and 1979, she won a record 20 Wimbledon titles, 13 US titles (including four singles), four French Open titles (one singles) and two Australian Open titles (one singles).

And what a year 1972 was: US Open, French Open and Wimbledon – three Grand Slams in one year.

She spent six years as the top-ranked female tennis player in the world.

But all the while, tennis was a stage for something bigger.

She pushed for equal prize money in the men’s and women’s fights. His online biography notes that in 1970 she competed in the women’s Virginia Slims Tour, and in 1971 she became the first female athlete to earn over $100,000 in prize money. Still, when she won the US Open in 1972, King received $15,000 less than the men’s champion at the time, Ilie Năstase.

She was instrumental in fighting for equal prize money for female tennis players and pushed for the passage of Title IX, a federal law that provides equal funding for men’s and women’s sports programs, prohibits discrimination based on gender or sex in schools and colleges.

Her legendary “Battle of the Sexes” victory in 1973 against Bobby Riggs, a former men’s world no. 1 player, was watched by more than 90 million people worldwide.

The result: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 and a victory on the march towards sporting equity.

At the top of her game that year, she led the formation of the Women’s Tennis Association and became its first president. The inclusive World Team Tennis would follow, as well as the Women’s Sports Foundation, with a mission to promote girls’ access to sport.

The barriers would keep coming and King would keep turning them down. In 1981, she was outed as a lesbian and lost her endorsement deals. However, in 1987 she would be elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and in 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in New York was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

She retired in 1990, a giant on and off the field.

Fast forward to today.

As she told Archbold in 2023, she still remembers when she decided years ago to make the world a better place.

“I decided I wanted to help all people,” she said, “all people.”

In addition to her work in sports and advocacy, King is also a lover of books and her hometown’s public libraries—making her a perfect namesake for Long Beach’s downtown Billie Jean King Main Library, which was named in the legend’s honor in 2019.

In addition to touting her support of public parks (where she first learned to play tennis) and local schools she attended, King said she maintains ties to the City of Angels as co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and women’s professional soccer team, Angel City FC .

King accepted the honor of being the 2025 Rose Parade grand marshal on Oct. 7 from the steps of the Tournament House in Pasadena, where she made a grand entrance to Elton John’s song, “Philadelphia Freedom,” a song John famously wrote for her honor. in 1975.

“Being from Long Beach and growing up in Southern California, I have fond memories of watching the parade with my family, and I am deeply honored to be named Grand Marshal of the 2025 Rose Parade,” King said on 7 . October. “This parade is a wonderful celebration of joy and community and truly represents the ‘best day ever’ for all who participate or watch.”

Superlatives certainly apply to the Hall of Famer, named by Life magazine as one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.” She was the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and became the first individual female athlete to receive Congressional Gold Medalthe highest civilian award from the US Congress.

Tournament of Roses president Ed Morales selected King as grand marshal.

“Her pioneering work has elevated women in sport and inspired countless best days ever for athletes and fans around the world,” he said.

She joins a list of past grand marshals that includes Frank Sinatra, Shirley Temple, Vin Scully, Walt Disney, Jane Goodall and Jackie Robinson. Last year’s honorary parade leader was Broadway star Audra McDonald.

• See also: Rose Parade 2025: Your ultimate guide to watching from home

Looking over a list of past grand marshals – including Pasadena’s own Jackie Robinson, she said she will do her best to represent the city and its New Year’s Day tradition.

Ultimately, it comes down to some basics, she said, referring to the 2025 Rose Parade theme, “Best Day Ever!”

“I have a whole new saying now,” King said of the theme. “It reminds us of the importance of living in the present every day and making time for the people you love. I can’t wait for January 1st, for the best day ever.”