Laila Edwards: Cleveland Heights cheers as hometown defender helps U.S. women take gold
laila edwards, the 22-year-old defender from Cleveland Heights, helped the United States win the Olympic gold medal in a matchup against Canada, and her hometown has been rallying around the milestone as family and neighbors watched from New Heights Grill and beyond.
Just after 2 p. m. on a Tuesday, televisions at the New Heights Grill were fixed on the U. S. women’s hockey game against Canada, where Edwards patrolled the ice with the steady focus that marked her youth play with the Cleveland Barons and the Cleveland Heights Tigers. The victory delivered the gold medal to the United States and made Edwards a central figure in a proud local story.
Edwards grew up in Cleveland Heights, a suburb of about 45, 000 just east of Cleveland whose slogan, “All Are Welcome, ” now feels especially apt for a community that traces part of its civic life to Lee Road and the Cleveland Heights Community Center. She first strapped on skates at age 3 while joining older siblings Chayla and Bobby at public skate sessions, and by 5 she was on the Cleveland Heights Tigers Mites B team; her father, Robert Edwards, had played at Heights High as well.
Family presence at the Games was made possible by a GoFundMe set up by Robert Edwards with a goal of $50, 000; an anonymous $10, 000 donation from Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce helped the fundraiser reach $61, 000, and 14 immediate family members were able to travel to Milan to watch her play. Edwards’s 91-year-old grandmother, Ernestine Gray, was among those who made the trip, and Edwards reflected on the moment by saying, “Obviously, my name’s on the roster, but I feel like my whole family made it to the Olympics. ”
Laila Edwards: Cleveland Heights rallies behind its hometown star
Cleveland Heights has turned out in visible ways. Pride flags and Black Lives Matter placards dot lawns, restaurants serving Ethiopian, Italian, Turkish and Trinidadian food line Lee Road, and longtime residents see Edwards as emblematic of the city’s inclusive ethos. Marian J. Morton, a retired history professor, noted that the suburb “has not always been a place where everybody was welcome” and pointed to decades of local efforts to support integration; today, Black residents make up roughly 40 percent of the population and white residents about 46 percent.
Kelce brothers’ donation sent 14 family members to Milan
The Kelce connection followed Edwards beyond the ice. She appeared on Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce and joked, “I’m the best athlete to come out of Cleveland Heights, ” to which Jason Kelce replied, “No objection. ” The Kelce family met Edwards’s family in Milan, where the fundraising haul — $61, 000 raised after the brothers’ anonymous $10, 000 gift — covered travel costs so that Edwards’s relatives could witness the Games in person.
A milestone gold and a family on the ice
Edwards is the first Black woman to play for the U. S. hockey team and for the American team at the Olympics, and her presence on the roster has drawn attention both at home in Cleveland Heights and on the international stage. With the United States defeating Canada to claim the gold medal, Edwards’s Olympic debut became part of a larger moment for the program and for her family, who were in Milan to see it.
The U. S. team’s gold-medal victory and Edwards’s role in it have left her hometown celebrating; her family, having traveled to Milan to watch the games, were on hand as the team finished the tournament with the top prize.
