"There are other ideas we want to do within the rink to honor her accomplishments, and we've been having that conversation with her dad. We want to get some replicas of her Team USA jersey and her jersey at Wisconsin, as she has played in three national championships with Wisconsin, winning two of them."
"Edwards, a Cleveland Heights native, grew up playing hockey against boys at the Cleveland Heights Community Center. At age 13, she left home to play hockey and attend Bishop Kearney High School, a private school in Rochester, New York. She then signed with Wisconsin and, as a 6-foot-1 senior forward, has helped the Badgers win two national championships."
"As the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics drew near, awareness of her surged. At the Games, she played a key role in the United States' comeback victory against Canada to win the gold medal in overtime."
Laila Edwards, a Cleveland Heights native, has achieved remarkable success in hockey, including two NCAA national championships with Wisconsin, an IIHF World Championship, and an Olympic gold medal from the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. Despite these accomplishments, she lacked recognition at the Cleveland Heights Community Center ice rink where she developed her skills. City officials have now committed to honoring her with a banner in the rink's rafters and plan additional tributes, including replicas of her Team USA and Wisconsin jerseys. Edwards made history in 2023 as the first Black woman to play for the U.S. women's national team and played a crucial role in the team's overtime victory against Canada at the Olympics.
#laila-edwards #womens-hockey #olympic-gold-medal #cleveland-heights #first-black-woman-us-national-team
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]