Angela James - The Trailblazer

HOCKEY - FORWARD - COWHL & NWHL

ARCHETYPE: THE TRAILBLAZER

Day 99/135

Athletic Accomplishments

Angela James is hockey royalty. The first ever women’s hocket superstar. One of the best to ever tear around the ice.

As a youth in Ontario, Canada, James was an impressive multisport athlete, who excelled in everything from baseball to synchronized swimming to, of course, ice hockey. But growing up in the 1970s meant there were few opportunities for girls to play and compete in sports, particularly ice hockey, so James began playing with the boys teams.

Even at 8 years old, James was so dominant and so much more skilled than her peers that the league moved her up to playing with the 11-12 year old division, where she led the league in scoring and was named an All-Star. But parents complained and felt offended that this girl was so much better than the other players, forcing her to withdraw from the team in her second year, and resulting in the league president forbidding girls to play in the league from that point onward. Unchecked insecurity: is that what they mean when they say boys will be boys?

Skipping ahead to college, where James played both softball and ice hockey for the Seneca Scouts in 1983. As an outfielder and batting clean-up, James was selected to the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) all-star team three times. She also led the Scouts to winning the OCAA women's softball championship twice.

But James was even more dominant on the ice. She set OCAA career records of 80 goals and 128 points, which stood until the OCAA disbanded in 1989. James was selected Athlete of the Year in both 1984 and 1985 for her contributions in hockey and softball. Later, her No. 8 jersey was retired, she was inducted into the Seneca Varsity Hall of Fame, and received the Seneca College Distinguished Alumni Award.

James remained top of the game throughout her professional career. She played in the Central Ontario Women's Hockey League (COWHL) from its founding in 1980 until 1998 before heading to the NWHL, where she was named league MVP six times.

In 1990, James led Team Canada to win the first ever IIHF World Women's Championship. She set a scoring record of 11 goals in the tournament. James was demonstrably the best player in the world, and during her reign, Team Canada was equally dominant, winning four World Championships (1990, 1992, 1994, and 1997). They also won the 3 Nations Cup twice (1996 and 1999) and the IIHF Women's Pacific Rim Championship in 1996.

Character Archetype: The Trailblazer

When Angela James started playing hockey as a kid, she was so good that she played with boys 3 years older than her. And even against those kids, she was so dominant that she was selected as an All-Star. And then, thanks to a little thing called fragile masculinity, the league president forbid girls from playing in the league.

But that guy couldn’t stop James from becoming the first superstar of women’s ice hockey. From setting her college scoring record. From leading Team Canada to win four World Championships. From becoming a six-time NWHL MVP.

In 2008, James was one of the first women inducted into IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2010, she was one of the first women and only the second Black player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and named to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2021.

Once upon a time, some nameless nobody tried to keep Angela James out of spaces where she belonged. But James shredded that guy like every defense she had shred before. When you’re a trailblazer, you know how to cut your own path.