The Kelce brothers. An Olympic champion snowboarder. A member of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team. A lot of folks helped Laila Edwards on her journey to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
But none more important than the large contingent of family that is watching her take the ice for the United States women’s hockey team.
Mother Charone Gray-Edwards, sister Chayla Edwards, grandmother Ernestine Gray, aunt Vanessa Duckworth and some cousins flew to Italy from the Cleveland area to see Laila Edwards become the first Black woman to play for the U.S. at an Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament. She had an assist in a 5-1 win over the Czech Republic on Thursday in a preliminary game.
“It has been an overwhelming, exciting, surreal, beautiful, emotional experience thus far,” Charone Gray-Edwards told The Athletic. “I am truly proud of Laila. She has worked so hard to achieve her goal.”
Laila Edwards and Team USA will play three more preliminary games (schedule here) — against Finland, Switzerland and Canada — before the quarterfinals on Feb. 13. The Americans won gold medals in 2018 and 1998 and took silver in 2022, losing to the Canadians in the final match.
This year, the U.S. has a great chance for gold again. The International Ice Hockey Foundation has the Americans ranked No. 1 in the world, and Edwards is a big reason why. She helped Wisconsin win two NCAA championships in 2023 and 2025. The Badgers have been coached since 2002 by Mark Johnson, who scored two goals in the famous “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Edwards led the NCAA with 35 goals last season and was a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the best player in women’s college hockey. She also helped lead the U.S. to gold at the IIHF World Championship in 2025 and silver in 2024 and made Forbes’ 30 under 30 North America sports list in 2025.
Laila Edwards’ aunt, Vanessa Duckworth, grandmother, Ernestine Gray, and mom, Charone Gray-Edwards, on the plane to Milan. (Courtesy of Robert Edwards)
Reached via text from Italy, Edwards told The Athletic that, heading into the first game, she was “nervous of course, but I know that’s a good thing. I tend to do a good job of properly channeling my nerves into good energy.”
The 22-year-old Edwards had a few days to acclimatize herself to the Olympic life before the first puck dropped.
“My experience in Italy has been great,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed interacting with other athletes from all over the world. Just the feel and experience of being here has been surreal!
“The experience has exceeded my expectations. We’re treated so well, taken care of, well-respected, and I’ve met so many different people already. It’s so cool. I’m so happy to be here.”
Edwards’ big family is certainly happy to be there, too. It’s not cheap to send a large contingent to Italy, but her parents, Robert and Charone, were able to raise more than the $50,000 goal they set for their GoFundMe fundraiser.
The campaign caught the eye of Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce — also from the Cleveland area — who combined to donate $10,000. Other notables who chipped in were Team USA teammate Abbey Murphy and Olympic champion snowboarder Red Gerard and his sister, Tieghan, a foodie and influencer with a following of 5.4 million people on her Half Baked Harvest Instagram account. One anonymous donor helped out with $5,000.
“But we also look at the $10, $15, $20 donations, and that’s heartwarming, that’s awesome, and makes us feel really good that people wanted to put whatever money they had,” Robert Edwards told The Athletic.
Laila Edwards’ mom, Charone, left, and dad, Robert, right, will watch their daughter compete at the Winter Olympics. (Courtesy of Robert Edwards)
Laila Edwards’ dad will fly out next week to Italy, followed by her brother, Bobby. Dad, a house painter and former high school hockey player himself, is excited to check out Italy on his first trip there.
“We do want to do it up, although my focus is the Olympics, we do want to take advantage of a cultural gem of a place,” he said. “We love Italian food, and I was told it’s not a cliche, what we eat here that we think is Italian is nothing like real Italian.”
Of course, the biggest thrill for the family would be for Edwards to win her first Olympic medal. It would be the culmination of years of hockey training and competition for Edwards, who learned to skate at 3 and then got her start in the Mighty Mite youth hockey program. She left home during eighth grade to live and train at Bishop Kearney Selects — a training and development academy for elite student-athletes — in Rochester, N.Y., before playing at Wisconsin.
“Part of me is obviously proud and excited, but the other part of me wants her and the team to do well,” Robert Edwards said. “So there’s a lot of expectations and hopes. I’m feeling a little nervous about it.”
From left to right: Laila Edwards’ cousins, Jamir, Michael, Amira; aunt, Vanessa, grandmother, Ernestine, mom, Charone, at their Milan hotel. (Courtesy of Robert Edwards)
The idea that Laila Edwards might wind up an Olympian didn’t cross her dad’s mind until her teenage years.
“I had some real thoughts about it when she was on the 18-U team and did relatively well in the 18-U worlds, and I thought, ‘OK, she’s in the mix to make the women’s team if she keeps progressing,’” Robert Edwards said. “I knew academically and intellectually she was very gifted. I knew she would be physically built like a Division I athlete (she’s 6-foot-1).”
Now that the Olympic dream has become reality, dad did what dads do — convey some words of wisdom to his daughter on the big journey (as did the Shaker Heights Squirts, coached by Laila Edwards’ brother, Bobby).
“I just gave her cliche advice, like get the rest that you need and try to have fun,” Robert Edwards said. “Try to enjoy this, because it’s a big deal. She wants to please people and hates to disappoint them, but I don’t want that to get in the way of her enjoying the whole experience and being grateful and humbled by all the attention. She is very competitive and really wants to do well, and she will do the best to prepare herself and do the best she can.”