{"id":416388,"date":"2026-01-18T00:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T00:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/416388\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T00:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T00:57:13","slug":"former-tennis-legend-billie-jean-king-reveals-one-parenting-mistake-that-pushes-kids-to-quit-sports-early-international-sports-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/416388\/","title":{"rendered":"Former tennis legend Billie Jean King reveals one parenting mistake that pushes kids to quit sports early | International Sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FormerFormer tennis legend Billie Jean King reveals one parenting mistake that pushes kids to quit sports early (Image via Getty) Billie Jean King is still teaching the sports world powerful lessons, even at 82. This time, the tennis legend shared advice that every parent of a young athlete needs to hear. While speaking on SiriusXM\u2019s LIFT, Billie Jean King explained one simple thing her parents did that helped shape her long, successful career. Her message was clear, honest, and deeply personal, and it focused more on love and support than on winning trophies.During the Jan. 9 episode of LIFT, a SiriusXM show that features conversations with extraordinary women, Billie Jean King spoke about growing up in a sports-focused home and how her parents handled pressure the right way. She said her parents never asked her or her brother, Randy King, if they won their games. Instead, they asked kinder questions that made sports feel safe and fun. That simple habit, she said, made all the difference and is something many parents today often forget.<\/p>\n

Billie Jean King explains why parents should stop asking kids if they won<\/p>\n

While talking on LIFT, Billie Jean King clearly explained her biggest advice to parents of young athletes. She said, \u201cThey never asked Randy or me if we won. If they picked us up in the car, or when we walked through the door at home, they didn\u2019t say, \u2018Did you win?\u2019\u201d Instead, her parents would ask, \u201cWhat kind of day did you have?\u201d or \u201cWhat did you do well?\u201dShe explained that many children quit sports around ages 10 or 11 because they feel pressure to live up to their parents\u2019 dreams. \u201cLet the child figure it out,\u201d King said. She also shared that she often sees parents \u201chover\u201d too much today, which can take the joy out of sports. According to King, kids need space to learn, grow, and enjoy the game in their own way.Billie Jean King is one of the most significant people in tennis history, she is a 39-time Grand Slam champion. Her 12 Grand Slam singles victories in the 1960s and 1970s helped to propel women’s tennis to prominence. She won the historic “Battle of the Sexes” against Bobby Riggs in 1973, an event that altered public opinion of women in athletics.Off the court, Billie Jean King helped create the Women\u2019s Tennis Association and played a major role in securing equal prize money in the U.S. Open. In a May 2024 interview with PEOPLE, she also spoke about a painful childhood moment when she realized girls had very few sports opportunities. That memory, she said, pushed her to fight for access and equality for women and LGBTQ+ people. \u201cEveryone has something to offer,\u201d she said, reminding parents and leaders alike that support matters more than results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former tennis legend Billie Jean King reveals one parenting mistake that pushes kids to quit sports early (Image…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[27611,49,48,174870,174867,174871,82,174869,593,15827,25735,174868],"class_list":["post-416388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-billie-jean-king","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-children-in-sports","tag-parenting-mistakes-in-sports","tag-pressure-in-youth-sports","tag-sports","tag-sports-parenting-advice","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-legends","tag-women-in-sports","tag-young-athletes-quitting-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}