Blake Bolden Inspires On & Off The Ice

Blake Bolden plays professional hockey for the Boston Pride in the newly formed National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). Although the NWHL recently concluded its inaugural regular season, the league made history from the first puck drop on October 11, 2015. The NWHL is the first league to pay women to play hockey. The salaries are modest, but symbolize a step towards valuing female athletes in professional hockey.

Bolden and her Boston teammates continued to make history, participating in the first Outdoor Women’s Classic at Gillette Stadium on December 31st. The event featured a showdown between Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), and the Boston Pride. Bolden became the first and only NWHL player to score in the match, tying the game with roughly three minutes left on the clock. The game was played on the eve of the NHL Winter Classic between the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins.

Blake Bolden takes a shot in the first ever Outdoor Women’s Classic (Photo: Michelle Jay)

Although the Boston Pride is the newest hockey team in town, Bolden is not new to New England. She attended Boston College, where she is ranked second all-time among defenseman in goals, assists and points. Bolden was a two-time First Team New England All-Star and a two-time First Team Hockey East All-Star for the Eagles.

Last year, Bolden played for the Boston Blades of the CWHL, winning the 2015 Clarkson Cup in her second and final season with the Blades. While Blake has enjoyed collegiate and professional success in Massachusetts, her hockey story begins back home in Ohio.

Love for the Game

Blake Bolden fell in love with hockey at age six, “My mother met this gentleman who I now call my father, and he worked for this IHL (International Hockey League) team part-time, called the Cleveland Lumberjacks, and he would always take me to the hockey games”

Although Bolden started playing hockey when she was slightly older, she attributes her love of the game to the Lumberjacks, “as a little girl, I was just amazed because I got to meet the players and occasionally go into the locker room … sometimes [the players] would attend my birthday parties.”

Role Models

Perhaps because of her introduction to hockey, Bolden finds the youth development aspect of her job as a professional athlete extremely important, “I really believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to grow the game … in order to grow the sport, our time needs to be given for the youth.”

Bolden gladly serves as a mentor for black girls in hockey as well. In an article by The Color of Hockey, Blake stated, “I love when younger black girls come up to me and talk to me. I always give them my contact information because it is a responsibility”

When asked to elaborate what her responsibility to girls of color is, Bolden remarked, “I didn’t have a person that looked like me to idolize, and that’s completely fine … I am more than happy to take that role in advocacy for young African-American girls to even just think about picking up a hockey stick and trying it out, and just knowing that [hockey] is something they can do if they want to.”

However, Bolden did have her hockey idols in addition to the Lumberjacks. Angela Ruggiero and Brett Hull, to be exact. “I definitely was a big fan of Angela Ruggiero, she was a big, tough defenseman and that’s who I idolized. I remember reading her book Breaking The Ice as a young kid”

Bolden has been able to meet and share the ice with Ruggiero over the years, an experience she is grateful for, “I’m just happy I got the chance to meet her, and obviously she was a big reason in my choosing to play defense.”

As for her favorite NHL player, “I used to love Brett Hull because his slap shot was just amazing (laughs). I read somewhere that he used to break, like, two sticks a game, but that could’ve been just a rumor.”

Promoting Positivity for Boston Youth

However, Blake Bolden is more than an athlete who inspires young hockey players. She is also the Student Services Manager at Inner City Weightlifting (ICW). Upon graduating from Boston College, Bolden knew she wanted to stay in Boston and play for the CWHL. This meant she needed to find a job in the area. Through Boston College connections, the Psychology major was connected with ICW.

Inner City Weightlifting reduces youth violence by offering young people a meaningful career track in personal fitness training, and connecting students with new networks and opportunities. The ICW theory of change posits that by replacing segregation and isolation with economic mobility and social inclusion, the system that leads to urban street violence will be dismantled.

“It’s just a wonderful organization because it’s got a social mission, it’s helping individuals that have lost hope … our goal is to reduce youth violence by taking [youth] off the streets and giving them a safe place to develop their skills … and their sense of hope.”

Bolden serves as an advocate for the youth coming to ICW. Many are dealing with challenges that can create barriers to employment and overall success, such as poverty, incarceration, access to education and safe, affordable housing. Blake and the ICW team help youth complete secondary education credits, obtain a GED, find safe housing, and provide employment assistance.

Bolden knows that a lot of these opportunities are taken for granted by most, yet for the youth she works with daily, they make all the difference. Bolden believes that a sense of belonging is what truly engages struggling youth.

“It’s being part of a community. ICW promotes positivity, that’s something a lot of youth don’t have when they leave our gym; a lot of positive individuals in their life, motivating them to do the right thing and reminding them that they have a support system.”

From learning the mechanics of a power clean, to applying for jobs online, Bolden hopes that ICW can help young people have a productive day, and the more productive days participants have, the more they will desire positive people and things in life.

The Future of Women’s Hockey

“I really believe that it is everyone’s responsibility to grow the game”

The NWHL has made history, being the only North American professional hockey league to pay its players. However, with a player salary cap of $25,000, growth is needed to offer a long-term stability to players and the league. The NWHL has secured a partnership with Dunkin Donuts in the first year, as well as broadcasting deals with NESN and ESPN3. The NESN partnership was the first TV deal for the new league, and included eight Boston Pride games for the 2015-2016 season. ESPN3 offered fans the opportunity to stream select games online.

The new league continues to find ways to promote itself and gain support and respect. As a professional in the new league, Bolden feels that she and her colleagues have a duty to grow the game, “I believe that people who are at the highest level or the pinnacle of their sport have a responsibility to give back”. The involvement of the athletes is a necessary step to secure supporters and investors, as well as to encourage the next generation of talent.

For Bolden, the exposure to camps, professional games and engagement with pro female hockey players is mutually beneficial, “… in order to grow the sport, our time needs to be given to the youth.” The league and Dunkin Donuts agree. Each of the Founding Four teams has partnered with Dunkin Donuts to hold youth clinics. Blake’s Boston Pride teammates, Gigi Marvin and Brianna Decker, hosted the first clinic of the partnership.

Overall, the growth of women’s hockey and women’s sport will take time. Bolden believes that when more eyes view the quality of the product, more money will come. “I think it just takes time and persistence. I think that women’s sports is doing the best that it can to promote itself. I think that we’re on the right path and I think that when more people start to respect each individual women’s sport; if you just attend a game, you can see that it’s not that much different from the men’s game. From that comes respect, and with respect comes a lot more viewing audiences, with more viewing audiences, I would assume more money.”

A Tale of Two Leagues

As far as the future of the women’s professional hockey, Bolden is thankful to have an opportunity that pioneers who came before didn’t, “… I am just happy that I’m playing ice hockey professionally in general. I can’t tell you how many older people that played the sport are gawking and saying, ‘you’re so lucky’. I’m just really happy that these leagues were even … created”. She noted that both leagues have afforded her and others the opportunity to compete among high level talent.

In terms of a potential merger, Bolden likes the idea of having one big, happy league, “I would like the leagues to merge because, that’s just, I would just like everyone to be (laughs) one big happy family. But, whatever happens, I hope it’s a good ending and I’ll be there in the end, regardless.”

Leaving a Legacy

No matter the league, Blake plans to stay in Boston and play professional hockey, as well as impact the lives of youth with Inner City Weightlifting. However, one day, Bolden will play for the last time and the game will go on, without her. I asked Blake what she hopes a future pro NHL player, who names her as his role model, would say about the way she played,

“Well, that would be amazing, first off. I would hope that they, just loved watching me play, and I hope that my style on the ice was somewhat contagious … I hope they would respect the amount of time and effort that, not just myself, but each athlete puts into being the best athlete they can be … it would be a great thing, I would be smiling from ear to ear.”

Bolden returns to the ice on Friday for the Isobel Cup Finals. She and the 1st Place Boston Pride will take on the 3rd Place Buffalo Beauts. The Inaugural Isobel Cup Finals will be held at the Prudential Center Practice Facility in Newark, New Jersey. Tickets are available at NWHL.co

Follow Erica Ayala on Twitter @elindsay08