Homegrown Gold: Cleveland Heights Celebrates Laila Edwards’s Olympic Moment
In Cleveland Heights, about 75 residents gathered at the community center to watch Team USA win Olympic women’s hockey gold after Laila Edwards tied the game and scored the OT winner, turning a hometown moment into a global milestone. Edwards—who began playing hockey locally and played for the University of Wisconsin—was celebrated as the first Black woman to represent the U.S. women’s hockey team, with GoFundMe support and a donation from Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and his brother Jason helping her journey. The city plans a parade in April, underscoring a tight-knit community’s pride and the broader significance for Black history and local identity.
