Jan. 19, 2024
Angela James has been named the winner of The Carnegie Initiative (The CI) Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Air Canada. She is being recognized for her years of commitment to the game in a manner that embodies The CI’s mission to “work to ensure that hockey is inclusive, supportive and welcoming to all.”
James is regarded as the “first superstar of modern women’s hockey.” The Toronto native was a member of the Canadian Women’s Hockey team for a decade during which time she remarkably won four World Gold Medal and four International Pacific Rim championships. She also became the first and only Black woman to be named captain of the Canadian Women’s team. In 2010, she was one of two of the first women inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“Angela’s life journey, from her humble roots to the many challenges she overcame, is one of perseverance and maximizing every opportunity to advance her dream. Her work continues to inspire and provide hope to countless girls and people of colour in pursuit of their dreams and goals in life,” The CI Co-Chair Bernice Carnegie stated.
The prestigious award will be presented to James on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, during a ceremony as part of The CI Summit 2024 in Toronto. The CI’s annual conference will convene hundreds of hockey’s leaders and influencers and focus on sharing progress, challenges, and insights necessary for the ongoing growth of hockey and its culture.
James’s hockey prowess developed despite limited access to girls’ or women’s hockey in her youth. She spent many seasons competing in boys’ leagues before being prohibited from doing so. It forced her to travel by bus to continue to chase her dream and play, as a teenager, against adult women. Still, she dominated play. She was recruited at age 16 to play in the Central Ontario Women’s Hockey League. James also played hockey at Seneca College where she led the OCAA in scoring and earned MVP honors three straight years. She also led the school to its first league title in 1983-84 and added another championship the following season.
Her professional career spanned two decades starting in the Central Ontario Women’s Hockey League (1980-88) before moving on to the National Women’s Hockey League. She led the Toronto (later rebranded Beatrice) Aeros, to several league and provincial titles during which time she was the leading scorer eight times and a six-time Most Valuable Player selection. James retired from competitive hockey after the 1999-2000 season.
Her involvement in hockey continued long after her playing career. In all, she has spent more than 40 years in the game as a coach, official, and player. She also served as Co-Owner and General Manager of the Toronto Six women’s hockey team that won The Isobel Cup in 2023.
She has received many accolades and honors over her lifetime. A partial list includes inductions into numerous Halls of Fame: Seneca College Hall of Fame, Ontario Ball Hockey Hall of Fame, Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Hall of Fame, Black Ice Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame, International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame (IIHF), Canada Sports Hall of Fame, and Ontario Sport Hall of Fame. In addition, an ice arena in her childhood neighborhood of Flemington Park carries her name.
James retired in 2019 after 35 years working in the Athletic Department at her alma mater, Seneca College. Today, she teaches at Georgian College in the Sport Administration Program, Public Speaking.
She is a member of the Hockey Canada Foundation Board. James is also a member of several associations and corporations that are involved in initiatives surrounding inclusion, diversity, and player issues such as the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA), and The Carnegie Initiative.
James is the proud mother of three children and a devoted hockey family who have played and coached in the OWHA, OMHA and the GTHL.
Previous winners of The CI’s Lifetime Achievement Award include Bob Dawson (2023) and Willie O’Ree (2022).
