Angela James

Lore & Background

James was born in Toronto to Donna Barrato, a white Canadian, and Leo James, a Black American who came to Canada to escape racial segregation. She has two half-brothers and two half-sisters on her mother's side, and her father estimates she has at least nine half-siblings by him, though Angela believes the number is closer to 15. Among them is NHL player Theo Peckham. Raised by a single mother on government assistance in a subsidized townhouse in Flemingdon Park, James faced insults as one of few Black children in the area, particularly over being mixed-race with a white mother and sisters, and often fought over slurs. Her maternal grandparents never accepted her as a child. She first played organized hockey in a boys house league at age eight after her mother threatened legal action against officials who opposed her inclusion. James dominated the league, moving up age groups, but her participation ended partway through her second year due to jealousy from parents; the league president changed policy to forbid girls from playing. She then played in a small girls' program at Annunciation in Don Mills, and at age 13 played senior hockey with the Newtonbrook Saints against women 16 and older.

Reader's Guide

James played in the first women's world championship, an unsanctioned 1987 tournament, and in the first IIHF World Women's Championship in 1990, setting a scoring record of 11 goals and leading Canada to gold. She won additional gold medals in 1992, 1994, and 1997. Controversially, she was left off the team for the first women's Olympic hockey tournament in 1998. She played her final international tournament in 1999. James was one of the first three women inducted into the IIHF Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008 and one of the first two inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. She was the first openly gay player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the second Black player. She was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and named to the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2021. She served as co-owner and general manager for the Toronto Six of the Premier Hockey Federation, and as of 2022 is Senior Sports Coordinator at Seneca College. Her college career at Seneca College included setting OCAA career records of 80 goals and 128 points, and she was named OCAA athlete of the year in 1984 and 1985.

Did You Know?

• James was named her league's most valuable player six times.
• She played in 12 national championship tournaments.