Women in Sports Today
High School Sports
Because of the influence of King, and the help of Title IX, the number of girls participating in high school sports skyrocketed. In 1972, 295,000 girls played high school sports. Today, about 2.3 million girls play.
Even though girls have higher participation in sports, high schools today still provide 1.3 millions fewer opportunities for girls to play sports.
College Sports
Since 1972, the number of women playing at the collegiate level has gone up about 500 percent. The number of female athletes at NCAA schools has increased from less the 30,000 to over 193,000.
Even though college participation has risen greatly, NCAA schools still have 60,000 less opportunities for women to participate in sports.
Women's Professional Sports
Women are still fighting a battle. While there are many women's professional sports: football, basketball, softball, and soccer, they're nowhere near the ones compared to the men. You've probably heard of the Patriots, the Lakers, the Yankees, and the Galaxy, but you've probably never heard of the women's professional teams: the Baltimore Nighthawks, the Los Angeles Sparks, the Chicago Bandits, the Houston Dash. Nobody hears about women's sports, nobody buys tickets to women's sports, and nobody watches women's sports.
"We have to have professional opportunities for girls to dream. It's very difficult to come into the marketplace now, and we need women to support women's sports."
-Billie Jean King in 2013, on how she wants to see women's sports in 10 years
[Source: Billie Jean King]