Billie Jean King says she got her tennis start in rec centers

During a visit to Philadelphia City Hall, Billy Jean King said it was by going to a recreation center that she got started in tennis many years ago.  

King is part owner of the Philadelphia Freedom tennis team and is trying to bring the game to kids by fixing up a Hunting Park recreation center.

“Let’s make sure that every child has an opportunity to be whatever he or she can be, all genders, no matter how they self-identify,” she said. “I just try to get people to think about making the world a better place.”

King says team tennis is different from what you may be used to.

“In team tennis you yell. You get behind the city just like with the Phillies, the Eagles, or anything else,” she said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that until they come to a match.”

King gave Mayor Jim Kenney a Freedom jersey and invited him to watch a match out in Villanova.