At a Glance
- Laila Edwards will become the first Black woman to represent the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team in Milan 2026
- The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin star earned her spot after debuting for the senior national team last year
- Edwards credits her dad for starting her on skates at age three and shifting her from figure skating to hockey at five
- Why it matters: Her historic milestone offers visible representation for young players of color in a predominantly white sport
Laila Edwards is weeks away from stepping onto Olympic ice and into history. The 21-year-old forward will debut for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, becoming the first Black woman ever named to a U.S. Olympic women’s hockey roster.
From Figure Eights to Face-offs
Edwards first touched the ice at a Cleveland Heights rink at age three – not with a stick, but in figure skates. Her father, Robert Edwards, mapped out the plan: figure skating lessons would build edge work and balance, then pivot to hockey once she could handle a puck. “It was a part of my dad’s plan all along,” she told News Of Los Angeles. “I had no idea, but he knew.”
By five she had traded toe picks for tape, joining a youth team and skating every day after school. Public sessions, private lessons, backyard drills – if ice was available, Edwards was on it. Classmates called her a natural with the puck; she credits repetition. “I don’t know if I was so much a natural skater, but I did put a lot of work into skating,” she said.
Chasing Hilary Knight’s Autograph
The 2014 Sochi Olympics lit the competitive fuse. Ten-year-old Edwards watched the U.S. women drop a heart-breaker to Canada and told her mom she would wear the red, white, and blue one day. She pinned posters of Hilary Knight, Brianna Decker and Kendall Coyne Schofield on her bedroom wall and waited outside rinks for autographs, too nervous to approach alone.
Fast-forward a decade: Edwards now sits two stalls down from Knight inside the national-team locker room. “My mom had to do it for me, and now I’m sitting next to them in the locker room and going to the Olympics with them,” she said, still sounding star-struck.
Wisconsin Workload
College life at the University of Wisconsin is a carefully color-coded calendar. A typical day starts with 8 a.m. ice, slides into classes-business, social work, recovery nutrition-then finishes with homework. Two NCAA titles already decorate her résumé, and a third could arrive before she boards the plane to Milan.
Campus buzz grows each time Olympic commercials air. “Everyone here is respectful and they care… it’s just the little things that mean a lot,” she said. Tutors, advisors and strength coaches coordinate so she can train without sacrificing grades. “We’re set up to succeed,” she added.
Weight of a First
When USA Hockey called her name for the senior national team last season, Edwards became the first Black woman to reach that level. Making the Olympic squad one year later doubled the milestone. Rather than shrink from the spotlight, she chose to wield it. “I could take this one of two ways: shy away from it, or try to make a difference,” she recalled thinking.
Representation sits at the center of her mission. Growing up she rarely saw players who looked like her on televised games; she wants that cycle broken. “Hopefully they see, especially young players of color, can watch me and say, ‘Okay, she made it there, and I can make it there,'” she explained.
Family Ledger of Sacrifice
Edwards rattles off the family balance sheet without prompting: missed workdays, 5 a.m. drives, thousands in gear, late-night load-ins at tournaments. “It sounds cliché, but it’s very true,” she said. Parents Robert and Charone Gray-Edwards plus siblings Bobby, Colson, Chayla and Britney form a six-person cheering section that rarely misses a game, home or away.
“They’ve also mentally supported me and loved me and took care of me throughout this crazy journey,” she added. The debt, emotional and financial, fuels her Olympic pursuit. “Of course” she has gold on her mind, she admitted, “and pasta and pizza,” the fuel of champions in Milan.
Key Takeaways
- Laila Edwards will make Olympic history in February as the first Black woman on the U.S. women’s hockey roster
- Her father started her on skates at three, switching from figure to hockey at five to sharpen skills
- She now stars alongside childhood idols Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield
- Edwards uses her platform to inspire young players of color who rarely see themselves in the sport
