Moving Together With Purpose With Blake Bolden

Blake Bolden, Growth and Inclusion Specialist and AHL Scout for the Los Angeles Kings, shared her inspiring story of overcoming obstacles and breaking boundaries at our 4th Annual Mental Health Symposium.

Bolden started working with the LA Kings in January 2020. For her, it was definitely an interesting time to start a job. “If you asked me six months before that, I would’ve told you ‘no way, not possible’ and ‘what are you talking about’” She said. 

Starting With A Dream

She was six years old when she first got introduced to ice hockey. Her mother introduced her to her boyfriend at the time, who just so happened to work part-time for a local hockey team as a security guard and would take her to ice hockey games often.

“I was only a child so it was like going to an amusement park for me.” She stated. “I saw the players and they looked like gladiators on their equipment and watched them skate so fast and hit so hard.” She added.

One day, she turned to her mom’s boyfriend and asked if she could play. With excitement and his full support, he took her straight to play. According to her, they collected all of the secondhand equipment that they could find. She had a hockey stick that was way too long, hockey pants that were extremely short, and skates from a different generation. 

“But I didn’t care because I just wanted to look like the gladiators that I was enamored with” she said jokingly. 

Deciding to move and push limits

After a few months, she began to get comfortable, and started to excel very rapidly. Soon enough, she began to play travel hockey in one of the best boys teams in the state. Back then, she was the only girl in the team and innocently told her mom one day that she wanted to be the first black woman to represent the United States in the Olympics for ice hockey. 

Bolden grew up playing this predominantly white sport and unfortunately she never saw anyone of color playing with her. “I would turn on the TV and watch Jarome Iginla, a black player, but even still — he was a man.” She said.

Some time after, she was fortunate to attend and get a scholarship to a prep school in Lake Placid New York and be recruited to play division ice hockey. And yet again, she found herself being the only person of color in the school for four years straight. 

Bolden also got a full athletic scholarship to Boston College and stated that once she did, she felt like her long term childhood dream seemed to get closer and closer. Eventually she landed tryouts for the national team and won two world championships. 

Pitfalls and challenges

Fast forward to 2014 — Sochi, Russia was her year, her time to be an Olympian, she hoped. Unfortunately she got a call after she graduated stating that she would not be centralized. Devastated and heartbroken, she was cut from the team indefinitely.

Bolden claimed that she spiraled into deep depression. After that heartbreaking news, felt like she lost her sense of direction and drive. “I was in my early 20s and I lost myself.” She said. 

For a few months, Bolden took some time to sit in her pain, and even saw a therapist to help her heal. 

Your greatest setback can lead to your greatest breakthrough.

But, one day, she had a startling intuition that her hockey career was not over.” In place of the Olympics in 2014, she was the first black woman drafted in the first round of the CWHL. In October 2015 she became the first black woman to play professional women’s ice hockey. 

At times she found it very confusing discovering who she wanted to be and who she was becoming. As a young girl. she would constantly have to ignore ignorant comments and gestures that were made to her because of her differences.

She ended her speech inspiringly with words to remember: “I am grateful now to hold a stake in the game — not only to continue to push the boundaries of the sport as a woman and as a person of color but to give back. And hopefully open doors for those for even just a little bit curious to peek inside. So that's a short reminder we never fail, we always grow.”