Kingstilllightingbattleofthesexes25 yearslater

by Paul Moser sports editor

It was not hard to see why tennis great Billie Jean King was a hero for female athletes while watching her work with her fans this weekend at the Dixon Center.

Mobbed by fans wherever she went, harassed by reporters all night long and photographed by public relations people, King signed hundreds of tennis balls for star-struck fans.

King would not just give autographs, she would also try to find out a little about each person she talked to, especially her younger fans. Normal pleasantries would be exchanged, such as questions about tennis and sports.

During the evening King began talking to a group of little girls and expressed the extent of her passion towards the equalization of the sexes between men and women in sports.

King asked one girl in a tennis uniform whether or not she wanted a sports scholarship for college. The girl, obviously nervous, replied that she did. King, seizing the opportunity to educate, began speaking of women's sports rights.

King scolded the young aspiring tennis player for not knowing about Title IX, an equality in sports rule for the NCAA level passed by Congress. It requires college programs to spend an equal amount of money on women's sports as they do on men's sports.

King persuaded all of the bright eyed girls to write to Congress for further equality between the sexes. King stated that equality among the sexes in sports was one of her life long goals.

After all, it was her historic win over Bobby Riggs 25 years ago on Sept. 21, 1973 that pushed not only female tennis closer to equality but also pushed female athletes to the forefront.

The victory was a big one for women's rights in sports, but as King herself would admit, there is still a long way to go.

On the anniversary of her historic win over the late Bobby Riggs, King was concerned about the future more than the past. j

According to King, men make 180 percent more in professional sports than women do and until that is changed there will still be inequality in sports.

Along with the tribute to King, there was a tennis match played. King's World Team Tennis team, the Delaware Smash, played its final game of the season against the New York OTBzz. The Smash lost a heartbreaker to the OTBzz by the score of 27-26 in overtime.

According to King, the league is a tribute in and of itself to equality in athletics. The teams in this league all have an equal amount of men and women on the team and the matches are spread equally among men and women with there being a mixed doubles match as well.

According to King, this is the first professional league to contain both men and women playing on the same team in equality.

"It's very important for girls to see men and women working together," King said. "It's a step towards social development to see this equality of the genders on same

King also said she hopes to have 16 teams in the league within five years. There are currently seven teams in the league.

Now 25 years following that historic night, King is still fighting to win the set against sexism.

King hopes that someday sexism will be a thing of the past, but until that day, King plans to fight for the equalization between the sexes.

King lives every day of her life fighting that battle of the sexes. It does not appear that she plans to let up any time soon.