Billie Jean King, 100 athletes celebrate 50th anniversary of her Women's Sports Foundation

Billie Jean King started the Women's Sports Foundation with a $5,000 check.

She's turned that investment into $100 million US and a half century of helping girls and women achieve their dreams through travel and training grants, local sports programs and mentoring athletes and coaches.

King celebrated the 50th anniversary of the foundation by honouring the 1999 U.S. women's World Cup champions, PWHL and Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Mark Walter and the 2024 WNBA rookie class on Wednesday night in New York.

"What makes me happy is creating opportunities and dreams for others," King told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I look back and that's what drives me."

Nearly 100 female athletes attended the awards dinner to celebrate the milestone and King, a tireless advocate for equal pay and more investment in women's sports.

That includes awards host and soccer honouree Julie Foudy. She graduated from Stanford and played for the 1999 U.S. soccer team that won the World Cup before a record crowd of more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

"She's remained a friend and mentor and such a catalyst for changing the trajectory of women's soccer and so many sports," said Foudy, a former president of the Women's Sports Foundation and current soccer broadcaster for Turner and TNT.

After the World Cup win, Foudy and the team turned to King, Donna Lopiano and Donna de Verona for advice about improving pay and starting a professional soccer league.

"I'll never forget, [King] said, 'What are you guys doing about it?"' said Foudy, regarding their collective leverage with the U.S. Soccer Federation. "And as players, that was the exact epiphany we needed at that moment."

Foudy and the '99ers eventually witnessed the