February, Black History Month.
The month to acknowledge various accomplishments and milestones by perspicaciously courageous African Americans.
On February 5th, Laila Edwards will become the first black American woman in history to lace up a pair of skates and represent for the USA Women’s Senior National Team in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics (Team USA).
Laila Edwards, 22 years of age, was born and raised in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where she first started out as a figure skater. She then later on made the switch to play ice hockey at 5 years old, where she found her passion and forever love of the game.
Edwards is currently a standout player at the University of Wisconsin and has won two National Championships with them in 2023 and 2025. One of her greatest accomplishments was when she led the nation in her junior year with 35 goals. Now, she will break a prodigious barrier on Feb 5th that has stood for nearly 3 decades since women’s hockey debuted in 1998.
Just ahead of the Olympics, Laila had already made history to play for the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team. In 2024, she became the youngest player to win MVP and the first black woman to score for Team USA at the World Championship.
It has been a strenuous road with Laila having to endure racism along the way during the pre-stages of her career, and she made a few comments in an interview to enlighten her fans about her experiences.
“Walking into rinks and being told the basketball courts were that way was very annoying and tough… Having to experience those microaggressions at a younger age definitely taught me lessons and made me stronger.” – Laila Edwards
Laila has faced a lot of conflicting antagonists throughout her journey that she used to fuel her fire. That has only made her abundantly stronger mentally, and that is what you need to be able to compete and achieve her level of success.
Once the puck drops, Laila’s will be licking her chops to score to become the first black woman in history to score a goal for Team USA.
Edwards has already inspired an innumerable amount of young black American girls, giving them all limitless possibilities as athletes with expanded horizons. Her first game will be on Thursday against Czechia on February 5th.
Dante Robinson | Senior PWHL Analyst for The NSR Network
