by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton
January 5, 2026
‘It still hasn’t really kicked in yet. Getting that call is like a dream come true.’
Laila Edwards will make history as the first Black woman to play for Team USA’s Women’s Ice Hockey Team at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy from Feb. 6-22.
According to Olympics.com, Edwards, who is currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin, has made the 23-player roster for the Milano Cortina 2026 Games. Team USA announced the roster on NBC on Friday, Jan. 2.
Cleveland Heights’ own Laila Edwards is headed to the Olympics 🇺🇸🏒
With today’s roster announcement, Edwards becomes the first Black woman to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Olympic Games.
A national champion, standout at the collegiate level, and one of the… pic.twitter.com/3HIUiVB8lA
— I’m From Cleveland (@ImFromCle) January 3, 2026
The 21-year-old was named along with Cayla Barnes, Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter, Britta Curl-Salemme, Joy Dunne, Aerin Frankel, Rory Guilday, Caroline Harvey, Taylor Heise, Tessa Janecke, Megan Keller, Ava McNaughton, Abbey Murphy, Kelly Pannek, Gwyneth Philips, Hayley Scamurra, Kirsten Simms, Lee Stecklein, Haley Winn, and Grace Zumwinkle.
“It still hasn’t really kicked in yet. Getting that call is like a dream come true,” Edwards expressed to the Associated Press. “Always had dreams of playing in the pros, but the biggest dream was to go to the Olympics for sure.”
When she was 20, she was the youngest American to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award at the women’s hockey world championships, helping the USA win its 11th title last April. She became the first Black woman to play for the US women’s hockey team at 19 and the first to win the IIHF Women’s World Championship (the International Ice Hockey Federation, the governing body of international ice hockey).
A GoFundMe has been started to help bring Edwards’ family to Italy to witness history in the making.
“Laila Edwards is going to the Olympics! On New Year’s Eve, Laila received the call that was the culmination of a dream. Our daughter/sister is headed to Milan Cortina to compete with the US Women’s Hockey Team in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games this February!”
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