USA hockey star Laila Edwards wins gold in front of her family after $10,000 gift from Travis and Jason Kelce

Team USA hockey superstar Laila Edwards celebrated Olympic gold alongside her family on Thursday – thanks to a huge helping hand from Travis and Jason Kelce.

Jason and Kylie Kelce were in the stands in Milan to see the US come from behind to secure a dramatic 2-1 overtime win against bitter rivals Canada. Edwards had an assist for the first of her team’s two goals.

The 21-year-old is the first Black female hockey player to represent the US at the Olympics but her family was only able to watch after an outpouring of donations on GoFundMe.

The biggest contribution – worth $10,000 – came from the Kelce brothers who, like Edwards, are from Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

The fundraiser allowed 10 family members – including her 91-year-old grandmother Ernestine Gray – and four friends to travel from the US. Others paid their own way to Milan Cortina to see Edwards’ golden Olympic debut.

Ahead of Thursday’s final against Canada, the 21-year-old said having her family in Italy for the Games ‘means everything to me.’

‘They helped me get here and make this team and achieve my dream, so it means a lot,’ she said.

The Edwards family, including her parents and four siblings, set up the fundraising page in a bid to raise $50,000.

Nearly 650 donations later, the page has reached $61,815, with money still pouring in this week. The top donation was $10,000 and it was made anonymously.

But Edwards revealed it came from the Kelces. Among those to make the trip were Edwards’ parents, aunt, cousin, older brother and elderly grandmother.

‘As she comes [on to the ice], she’s looking around,’ Gray, 91, told The Associated Press earlier this week. ‘I say: “I won’t do anything to distract her.” Then she did see me and I wave to her and then she waved back.’

The Kelce brothers have been fans of Edwards since 2023, when she became the first Black player to make the US senior women’s national team. The NFL legends gave her a shoutout on their popular podcast, New Heights.

‘I thought, ‘I’ll just message them, thanking them, they’ll never see it,’ she recalled after hearing their podcast comments. ‘And then Travis and I had a full conversation over DM, and that was super cool… he was a really down-to-earth, humble guy who was super supportive and had really good things to say.’

Edwards added: ‘They shouted me out again recently for making the Olympic team!’

Generosity from the Kelces and other Cleveland Heights locals is another example of how the tight-knit town operates, her parents said, even though their daughter moved away at a young age.