It wasn\u2019t easy for Laila Edwards\u2019 parents, missing much of their daughter\u2019s formative years developing into women\u2019s hockey Olympian away from her roots in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.<\/p>\n
Thanks to an outpouring of donations, including a major push from the hometown NFL brother tandem of Travis and Jason Kelce, they will be making the trip to join Edwards making her Olympic debut<\/a> at the Milan Cortina Games next week.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n A GoFundMe drive launched shortly after Edwards was named to the U.S. roster this month had generated more than $59,000 through Wednesday. The amount surpassed the goal of $50,000, and has the Edwardses making plans to bring up to 14 members of their immediate family, from maternal grandmother Ernestine Gray to Laila’s nephew Shiloh.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my goodness,\u201d mother Charone Gray-Edwards said this week. \u201cI was going to find words to describe the gratitude and appreciation. But I haven\u2019t yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Said father Robert Edwards: \u201cWe\u2019re humbled by it.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The significance isn\u2019t lost on Laila Edwards, who left home at 13 to attend the Bishop Kearney Selects Academy in Rochester, New York, before moving on to Wisconsin, where she is completing her senior season for the top-ranked Badgers.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, my name\u2019s on the roster, but I feel like my whole family made it to the Olympics,\u201d Edwards told The Associated Press during a Zoom call promoting Downy Rinse. \u201cAll the sacrifices they\u2019ve made, the things they\u2019ve done to get me here, my parents, my siblings, I\u2019m so grateful,. And for them to get to come and share the experience is going to be really special.\u201d<\/p>\n Edwards, who celebrated her 22nd birthday on Sunday, is considered the future face of women\u2019s hockey and will become the first Black female hockey player to represent the U.S. at the Olympics. She\u2019s a forward-turned-defender<\/a>, and at 6-foot-1 (185 centimeters) and 195 pounds (88 kilograms) has speed and play-making ability galore.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Though she\u2019s spent much of her life away from home, Edwards cherished growing up in Cleveland and rooting for LeBron James and the Kelces, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis and retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason.<\/p>\n She also got to know Blake Bolden, who is from Euclid, Ohio. Bolden is now a scout for the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and was the first Black player to compete in the National Women\u2019s Hockey League.<\/p>\n \u201cCleveland is my home, and it means everything to me,\u201d said Edwards, who was dubbed by her U.S. teammates as the \u201cQueen of Cleveland\u201d<\/a> following a U.S.-Canada game played there in November.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n