The first thing Laila Edwards did before the puck dropped was look up.
Not at the scoreboard. Not at the Olympic banners hanging above the rink in Milan. She searched the crowd for her grandmother.
Ernestine Gray, 91, had made the trip from Ohio to watch her granddaughter’s Olympic debut. When Edwards spotted her, the two exchanged a small wave, careful not to break the pregame focus.
“As she comes in, she’s looking around,” Gray told reporters. “Then I say, ‘I won’t do anything to distract her.’ Then she did see me and I wave to her and then she waved back.”
Hours later, the United States beat Canada 2 to 1 for the gold medal. Edwards assisted on the first of the two goals that secured the win.
She had brought a team of her own to Italy.
Ten relatives and four friends traveled to the Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 after the family launched a GoFundMe campaign with a $50,000 goal. By Friday, $56,240 had been raised from 562 donations. The largest single contribution, $10,000, came from NFL brothers Travis and Jason Kelce, though the donation initially appeared anonymous. Edwards later confirmed it was from them.
The Kelces grew up in Cleveland Heights, the same hometown as Edwards. They first highlighted her in November 2023 on their podcast “New Heights,” after she became the first Black woman to play for the United States women’s national hockey team.
Now they have helped send her family to the Olympics.
“OMG, thank you, so much for taking time out of your busy day to notice us little people and support us,” her mother, Charone Gray-Edwards, said. “Like, that was huge because the Kelces don’t know us. The only connection is Cleveland Heights. I really appreciate it.”
Edwards, now a senior defenseman at the University of Wisconsin, told reporters that the Kelces “helped out with my family’s GoFundMe to go over there and support me.”
“So I mean, those are just really good guys,” she said. “They’re really good people, too, outside of their athletic abilities.”
Jason Kelce and his wife, Kylie, also attended a semifinal game Monday, where the U.S. defeated Sweden 5 to 0. Edwards recorded an assist in that game as well.
Her Olympic debut carries weight beyond the box score.
Edwards is the first Black female hockey player to represent the United States at the Olympics. In a sport that remains predominantly white, that milestone has resonated far beyond Cleveland.
“Just to hear all the people of color talking about, ‘I’ve never watched hockey before and I’m tuning in,’” Gray-Edwards said. “I would love to know what the ratings are. Because everybody at home, everybody is talking about it. All these people are trying to buy jerseys.”
Ice Hockey in Harlem contributed $1,500 to the family’s fundraiser. JJ Velez, president of the organization’s board of directors, said Edwards represents more than a single city.
“She’s representing every Black and brown young lady who’s ever put on some skates and a helmet to defy the odds,” he said.
For Edwards’ mother, some of the most powerful moments have come after games.
“That means they’re not like, ‘Oh, this is a girl that plays hockey,’” Charone Gray-Edwards said, describing little boys asking her daughter for autographs. “They’re like, ‘This a good hockey player.’ So it doesn’t matter if she’s Black, a woman — she’s a good player.”
The family nearly stayed home.
When Edwards called a month before the Games to say she had made the team, her parents realized airfare and lodging in Italy would strain their budget. They could afford to send two people. Bringing the larger family group seemed unrealistic.
“We had to start talking about how to get money,” Charone Gray-Edwards said. “Who would go? How would we afford it?”
They had not booked flights early, wary of jinxing her chances.
Her father, Robert Edwards, started the GoFundMe page titled “Send Laila’s Family to the Olympics to Cheer Her On!” He admitted the move required swallowing some pride.
“There’s a lot of ups and downs in playing hockey at this high level and so she’s going to need somebody there,” he said. “So I was like, ’Well, pride be damned: we’re going to do a fundraiser.’ ”
Donations came in small amounts as well, some as little as $5.
“It’s amazing how supportive people have been and how they’re cheering and claiming her,” Charone Gray-Edwards said. “I love how people are cheering her on and let her know they’re going to watch hockey now because of her.”
Edwards left home at 13 to attend Bishop Kearney Selects Academy in Rochester, New York. She later joined the University of Wisconsin, where she is finishing her senior season with the top-ranked Badgers.
She began her college career as a forward before transitioning to defense for the United States. Many expect her to be selected among the top three picks in the Professional Women’s Hockey League draft in June, alongside Wisconsin teammate Caroline Harvey and Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy.
Still, the Olympic stage felt different.
Before Monday’s semifinal, Charone Gray-Edwards insisted the group meet in the hotel lobby two and a half hours before puck drop. Everyone wore Team USA gear. They piled into a taxi van that could hold the extended family.
That ritual mattered.
After the semifinal, Edwards told reporters that her family’s presence “means everything to me.”
“They helped me get here and make this team and achieve my dream, so it means a lot,” she said.
For her grandmother, the memory will not center on the score.
“You can just see them waving at each other. My mother’s like jumping and, oh, she just loves it,” Charone Gray-Edwards said.
The original story “Laila Edwards’ family watches her win Olympic gold live with help from Kelce brothers and GoFundMe” is published in The Brighter Side of News.
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