Mark and Kimbra Walter received the Billie Jean
King Leadership Award for starting the Professional Women’s
Hockey League.
“Women’s sports have really turned the corner and it’s never
going to go back,” Walter said. “Attendance, media rights,
franchise values are all skyrocketing.”
King collaborated with Walter to form the PWHL, which begins its
second season next month with teams in Boston, Minnesota, New
York, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.
“Our sports teams, Guggenheim and other companies, are going to
pledge $5.5 million,” Walter said, “to put our money where our
mouth is.”
The 1999 U.S. women’s national team received the Wilma Rudolph
Courage Award. The team won the World Cup before a record crowd
of more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
“It wasn’t just about winning a World Cup,” said goalkeeper
Briana Scurry, who accepted the award on behalf of her
teammates. “It was about redefining the way people perceived
women’s sports in this country.”
Lucinda Adams, the 87-year-old teammate of Rudolph on the 1960
Olympic gold medal 4x100 relay team, joined the soccer players
on stage at Cipriani Wall Street.
The 2024 WNBA rookie class received the Next Gen Award.
Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago’s Angel Reese helped produce
record attendance and TV ratings this summer.
The Women’s Sports Foundation provides travel and training
grants, local sports programs and mentoring for athletes and
coaches. The foundation feted King and her partner Ilana Kloss,
longtime advocates for equal pay and more investment in women’s
sports.
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