Background
The foundation was legally set up in 1974 by Billie Jean King, former husband Larry King and Jim Jorgensen, with the support of influential Olympians such swimmer Donna de Varona and skier Suzy Chaffee. After Donna de Varona traveled to San Francisco at the request of Larry King to outline how the foundation would function, Bille Jean funded the effort with a $5,000 check from Bob Hope that Billie Jean King had won as the Gillette Female Athlete of the Year.The WSF began its multi-sport emphasis at the 1975 ABC TV show Women’s Superstars which was held at the Houston Astrodome. It was there that Donna de Varona working as an ABC Billie Jean King invited the women athlete contestants to join in on the effort.
From 1975 to 1990, under the direction of Executive Director, Eva Auchincloss and Deputy Director Holly Turner, and the Chairwoman Billie Jean King, the Board of Trustees was expanded beyond Billie Jean, Larry King, Jim Jorgensen and Donna de Varona to include influential persons like Peggy Fleming, Snoopy creator Charles M. Schulz, and Bristol-Myers executive Marvin Koslo. In 1979, Billie Jean left the board and the foundation to focus on her tennis commitments and Donna de Varona was made President with the agreement that Billie Jean's name could be used for fund raising efforts.
In 1990, in recognition of Billie Jean's long standing efforts to promote the rights of women, Life magazine named King one of the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century", in part because of projects such as the Women's Sports Foundation.
WSF advocates that coed, gender balanced teams are the ideal situation, but that separate single sex teams for girls may be desirable in some circumstances once players reach puberty.
Past presidents include Donna de Varona, Carol Mann, Lyn St. James, Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Wendy Hilliard, Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, Nancy Lieberman, Julie Foudy, Dawn Riley, Dominique Dawes, Aimee Mullins, Jessica Mendoza, and Laila Ali. The current president is Angela Ruggiero and the current Board of Trustees Chair is Sandra Vivas.
Read more about this topic: Women's Sports Foundation
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