Considered the first superstar of modern women's ice hockey, James has been honoured by numerous halls of fame.

[3] She is the daughter of Donna Barrato, a white Canadian from Toronto,[4] and Leo James, a Black American from Mississippi who came to Canada to escape racial segregation.

[8] She battled depression and mental illness and her eldest daughter, Cindy, worked two part-time jobs at the age of 16 to help the family meet financial obligations.

[10] As one of few Black children in Flemingdon Park, Angela often faced insults, particularly over the fact that she was a mixed-race child with a white mother and sisters.

[8] James first played organized hockey in a Flemingdon Park boys house league at the age of eight, and then only after her mother threatened legal action as officials opposed her inclusion.

She started in the novice (7–8 year old) age group, but her skill level was so much higher than her peers that she was moved up to atom and then peewee (11 and 12-year-olds).

[18] The only feasible option James had for a girls league was at Annunciation, a Catholic organization in the Don Mills district.

[18] The girls' hockey program was small, requiring that teams be made up of players from all age groups in order to field complete rosters.

[20] Focused on hockey, exposed to drugs and alcohol, and frequently getting into fights, James paid little attention to her education and nearly dropped out of school.

[21] James struggled academically in her first year at Seneca, partially because she had rarely been held accountable for failing in her studies in the past, and partly because she was playing two sports at both the college and community level while working part-time jobs to help pay the family's bills.

Her scoring exploits led a Toronto reporter to call James "the Wayne Gretzky of women's hockey".

[20] She played in the first women's national championship in 1982, scoring the tying goal in the third period en route to a 3–2 overtime victory over Team Alberta to win the McTeer Cup.

[24] She left Burlington in 1984–85 to join Lee Trempe with the Agincourt Canadians for one season, then played with the Brampton Canadettes for another.

James won her first of seven consecutive COWHL scoring titles that season, then was loaned to the Hamilton Golden Hawks for the 1987 Women's Nationals and helped lead that team to victory.

[27] She continued to switch teams, joining the Toronto Red Wings/Newtonbrook Panthers franchise for a couple of seasons before rejoining the Aeros in 1997.

She remained with the team when it was rebranded the Beatrice Aeros in 1998 and joined the newly formed National Women's Hockey League (NWHL).

[42] James scored 38 goals and 55 points in the inaugural NWHL season of 1998–99 and was named the league's most valuable player.

The event, which was not sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), featured six participating teams while several nations sent observers.

[68] James's international career ended in storybook fashion as the championship game, against the United States, went to a shootout.

[70] Women's hockey historian Elizabeth Etue attributed James's success to her skating strength and "dynamic, bullet-like shot".

She had end-to-end speed, she had finesse as a stick handler and her slap shot was harder and more accurate than any female player I have ever seen.

[74] James ultimately gained level IV certification through Hockey Canada and has served as the OWHA's Referee-in-Chief.

Serving first as an assistant coach, she helped Seneca win the Ontario College Championship, its third consecutive title.

[28] Prior to the 2010-11 CWHL season, she was named Brampton Thunder head coach,[75] but, finding the responsibilities too time-consuming, she stepped down in December 2010.

[76] She believes she can offer the most at the grassroots level of the sport,[77] and has operated both her own hockey school and directed one organized through Seneca College.

[82] An eight-time scoring champion and six-time most valuable player during her senior career, James has been honoured by several organizations.

[27] Reflecting her role as a pioneer of the sport, James was one of the first three women, along with Geraldine Heaney and Cammi Granato, to be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame.

[88] James described being informed of her election as a day she never thought would happen, adding: "I'm really honoured to represent the female hockey players from all over the world".

[1] After earning a diploma in Recreation Facilities Management from Seneca College,[22] James was hired by the school as a sports programmer in 1985.

Ange carried their first child, Christian, in 1999,[95] and then gave birth to fraternal twins, son Michael and daughter Toni, in 2004.