Billie Jean King Shares Her Biggest Piece of Advice to Parents of Young Athletes
- - Billie Jean King Shares Her Biggest Piece of Advice to Parents of Young Athletes
Toria SheffieldJanuary 18, 2026 at 1:00 AM
0
Maya Dehlin Spach/WireImage
Billie Jean King -
Billie Jean King appeared on the Jan. 9 episode of SiriusXM’s LIFT, which interviews extraordinary women
The tennis legend revealed her biggest piece of advice for parents of young athletes
She said that she attributes much of her success to one specific thing her own parents “did really well”
Billie Jean King is sharing her biggest piece of advice to parents of young athletes.
The trailblazing tennis legend recently sat down with the hosts of SiriusXM’s LIFT, a new show on SiriusXM’s Stars featuring interviews with extraordinary women, to discuss her legacy and what she’s learned over her decades-long career.
During the Jan. 9 episode, King, 82, delved into what she thought her parents did especially well when raising her and her brother, Randy (who was a professional baseball player for over a decade).
“They never asked Randy or me if we won,” King recalled.
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty
Billie Jean King at Wimbledon in London in June 1973
“If they picked us up in the car, or when we walked through the door at home, they didn't say, ‘Did you win?’ And parents do that a lot. And most young people, they're finding, around 10, 11 years old, will quit their sport or sports because they don't feel they can live up to their parent’s ambition for them,” she continued.
“Let the child figure it out. You [the parent] can say, ‘What kind of day did you have?’ “... ‘What did you do well?’ [My parents] did that really well. And I don't think most parents do that,” she said, adding that she often sees parents today “hover” over their children.
King, a 39-time Grand Slam champion, dominated women’s tennis throughout the ‘60s and ’70s, winning 12 singles majors and helping usher in a new era of visibility for the sport.
Bettmann Archive/Getty
Billie Jean King holding her trophy at Wimbledon in London in 1975
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
King made history in 1973 when she defeated Bobby Riggs in the televised “Battle of the Sexes,” a moment that became a flashpoint in the fight for gender equality — and inspired the 2017 film of the same name starring Emma Stone.
Off the court, King was a driving force behind the creation of the Women’s Tennis Association and played a key role in securing equal prize money at the U.S. Open. Decades later, King remains a leading advocate for inclusion, equity and LGBTQ+ visibility.
While speaking to PEOPLE in May 2024, King — who was born in 1943 — recalled a moment when she thought she would likely never get to be a professional athlete based solely on her sex.
“I’ll never forget. I was 9 years old and at a minor league baseball game. I remember looking out there, at the game, and my heart sank.”
King said she thought to herself, "I can't play professional baseball, because I'm a girl."
“It really was a horrible day. There was really nothing for girls in sports then," she recalled. "There was no way we could make a living, that's for sure. Whereas, the guys were making a living.”
She went on to say that that’s why she has made it her mission to help women get access to the spheres historically reserved for only men — especially in the workforce.
Christopher Polk/ via Getty
Billie Jean King at the ESPY Awards in L.A. on July 16, 2025
“I think [access is] one of the most important words. I feel like we're losing it in our society and I think we need to think about it.”
“Everyone has something to offer,” she added. "Women, LGBTQs. Everyone. You never know where a good idea is going to come from.”
New episodes of LIFT premiere at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT every Thursday on Stars on SiriusXM (ch. 109) and on the SiriusXM app.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
