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Billie Jean King, tennis legend and longtime social activist, will lead the 2025 Rose Parade as its grand marshal, marking the 136th Southern California extravaganza with a giant not only in sports but with a trailblazing figure who rose from local roots in Long Beach to elevate the cause of equity across the globe.
King, 80, accepted her newest honor Monday, Oct. 7, from the steps of the Tournament House in Pasadena, where Tournament President Ed Morales revealed his choice for grand marshal.
As he introduced King to a cheering crowd, Elton John’s song “Philadelphia Freedom” played — a song John famously wrote in her honor in 1975.
The sports legend, lauded post-retirement for her work promoting gender equality on and off the sports field, will lead off the parade and the following 111th Rose Bowl game, both on Jan. 1.
“You have no idea how excited I am, this is like a dream come true,” King said, remembering how she and her mother Betty made a big deal of watching the parade.
Looking over a list of past grand marshals, including Pasadena’s own Jackie Robinson, King, one of the first openly gay professional female athletes, said she will do her best to represent the city and its New Year’s Day tradition.
“I appreciate that I get to be a small part of your history,” she said. “Just remember we will be measured by our contributions to your family and also to yourself.”
King’s selection as grand marshal aligns with this year’s parade theme, “Best Day Ever!,” celebrating life’s best moments, Morales explained. As president, he also chose this year’s parade theme.
“Her (King’s) trailblazing work has elevated women in sports and inspired countless best days ever for athletes and fans around the globe,” Morales added.
Superlatives certainly apply to the Hall of Famer, named by Life magazine as one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.” She is the first woman athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 (the nation’s highest civilian honor) and last month became the first individual woman athlete to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award from the U.S. Congress.
President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill on Sept. 26 recognizing the tennis great for “a remarkable life devoted to championing equal rights for all, in sports and in society.”
King founded the Women’s Sports Foundation, the Women’s Tennis Association, and the Billie Jean King Foundation, supporting youth leaders through sports, education and activism.
Billie Jean Moffitt was born in Long Beach on Nov. 22, 1943 and played softball before her parents suggested the then-11-year-old take up the more “ladylike” game of tennis. King attended Cal State Los Angeles before winning her first major singles title in Wimbledon in 1966.
During her career, King won 39 grand slam titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. She holds a record 20 Wimbledon wins. In tennis lore, King may best be remembered for her watershed defeat of Bobby Riggs, a former men’s world No. 1 player in a game dubbed the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973.
She spent six years as the top-ranked female tennis player in the world.
King retired from tennis in 1990 and began ramping up her work in social justice. She was instrumental in campaigning for equal prize money for female tennis players and pushed for the passage of Title IX, a federal law that provides equal funding for men’s and women’s sports programs prohibits discrimination based on sex or gender in schools and colleges.
Aside from extolling her support for public parks (where she first learned to play tennis), and local schools she attended, King said she maintains ties to the City of Angels as part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the women’s professional soccer team, Angel City FC.
As grand marshal, King will ride down the 5 ½-mile route of “America’s New Year Celebration” and will participate in the coin toss for the football game that follows at the Rose Bowl.
“Being from Long Beach and growing up in Southern California I have fond memories of watching the parade with my family and I am deeply honored to be named Grand Marshal of the 2025 Rose Parade,” King said. “This parade is a wonderful celebration of joy and community, and it truly represents the ‘Best Day Ever’ for all who attend or watch.”
According to Tournament of Roses officials, more than 700,000 spectators watch the New Year’s festivities in person, with more than 50 million viewers tuning in to the broadcast in more than 170 countries.
King joins a roster of past grand marshals that include Frank Sinatra, Shirley Temple, Vin Scully, Walt Disney, Jane Goodall and Jackie Robinson. Last year’s honorary parade leader was Broadway star Audra McDonald.
Before receiving the Congressional Gold Medal last month, King spent part of the summer at the Paris Olympics, catching the Nadal vs. Djokovic tennis match with rapper Snoop Dogg. The two took a selfie that noted both were born and raised in Long Beach and graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School.
“LBC forever in our hearts,” King captioned the pose.
The announcement of the grand marshal comes in the heels of other milestones of Pasadena’s definitive event, which began in 1890.
On Sept. 30, the Tournament of Roses Association, the nonprofit that produces the parade and game, announced the names of the 2025 Rose Court. The seven-member entourage will attend community events as ambassadors for the Tournament of Roses in the runup to New Year’s Day. The Rose Queen chosen from their number will be announced on Oct. 29.
This year’s Royal Court includes Simone Ball from Arcadia High School; Saniyah Brunston, John Muir High School; Lindsay Charles, Westridge School; Lara Georgian, Mayfield Senior School; Kate Kelly, La Cañada High School; Lisette Parker, Maranatha High School; and Natalian Pradhan, Flintridge Preparatory School.
The Queen and her Court will ride one of more than 40 floats in the parade, joining 20 specially selected marching bands and about 18 equestrian units.
The announcement of the grand marshal was greeted with approval from an entourage of officials from Pasadena City College, which sent a group including coaches from its football, baseball, swimming, water polo, and women’s basketball programs.
“She’s an outstanding choice,” said Terry Stoddard, swimming, diving and water polo coach at PCC. “She’s so iconic and representative, not just because of her champion status, but also (her work) in inclusion that has enabled all people in sports to feel good about what they’re doing.”
Joseph Peron, the college’s longtime women’s basketball coach, agreed, adding he appreciated King’s self-proclaimed fandom of Pasadena.
“I always say God lives in Pasadena, so I’m loving that she acknowledged (the city),” Peron said.
King recalled how she was 15 and had just gotten her first pair of eyeglasses the day she competed at the Metropolitan Pasadena Championships.
“I could see all the leaves on the trees, and I remember thinking of all places, Pasadena is truly beautiful,” she said. “And of course, my tennis got better real fast.”
The parade theme is also something the icon can get behind.
“I have a whole new saying now,” King said. “It reminds us of the importance of living in the present every day and making time for the people you love. I cannot wait for Jan. 1, for the best day ever.”
Anissa Rivera is a freelance writer and columnist with the Southern California News Group.
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