By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Monday, October 7, 2024
Photograph credit score: J. Emilio Flores/Cal State LA
Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King will convey within the New Yr as Grand Marshall for the Rose Parade.
The 39-time Grand Slam champion from Lengthy Seaside is returning to her roots to function Grand Marshall for the 136th Rose Parade.
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Match of Roses President Ed Morales introduced at the moment on the entrance steps of the long-lasting Match Home as King made a grand entrance to Elton John’s hit tune “Philadelphia Freedom”—a tune famously written in her honor that served because the theme for her WTT squad.
King’s choice as Grand Marshal ties seamlessly into this 12 months’s parade theme: “Finest Day Ever!”, celebrating life’s greatest moments.
Billie Jean King’s impression extends far past sports activities and the tennis courtroom. Named one of many “100 Most Essential People of the twentieth Century” by LIFE journal, she is the primary girl athlete to obtain the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she’s going to grow to be the primary particular person girl athlete to obtain the Congressional Gold Medal.
King can also be the founding father of the Girls’s Sports activities Basis, the Girls’s Tennis Affiliation, and the Billie Jean King Basis.
As Grand Marshal, King will experience down Colorado Boulevard, ushering within the new 12 months with the wonder and custom the Parade is thought for and take part within the pre-game ceremony on the Faculty Soccer Playoff Quarterfinal on the 111th Rose Bowl Sport.
“Being from Lengthy Seaside and rising up in Southern California I’ve fond reminiscences of watching the parade with my household and I’m deeply honored to be named Grand Marshal of the 2025 Rose Parade,” mentioned King. “This parade is a superb celebration of pleasure and group, and it actually represents the “Finest Day Ever” for all who attend or watch.”
