If you’ve never heard of Chayla and Laila Edwards, you’re in the right place as you’re about to learn about two trailblazers who are making history on the ice.
The Edwards sisters, who grew up in Ohio, started their careers in figure skating before moving to ice hockey. Now they both play hockey for the Wisconsin Badgers.
And they’re Black.
As two young Black girls competing in ice sports, you could imagine the feelings of discomfort and isolation they experienced as there weren’t many others who looked like them in the rink.
“We really didn’t see girls our age who looked like us playing hockey,” said Chayla Edwards in an interview with WISN 12.
But that didn’t stop them from choosing hockey after their parents told them to choose which sport they were going to play.
Their father, Robert Edwards, fully recognized the challenge they faced but was ready to take it on as a family.
“We went through some obstacles. We went through some challenges, but we made it,” he said. “So if we can open this game up to people of or all girls — in particular people of color — let them be an inspiration to all girls.”
Chayla is a grad student who plays defense for the team while younger sister Laila is a sophomore left wing on the team.
After participating in figure skating to help develop their skating skills, Chayla started playing hockey when she was 7 and Laila began when she was “around 4 or 5 years old.”
Now more than a decade later, the Edwards sisters are thriving in the sport and making history at the same time.
Last year, the two became the first Black sisters to play for Wisconsin. In March 2023, they helped the Badgers win the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championships, the program’s seventh ice hockey title, which is the most in NCAA history.
Then Laila etched her name in the history books a second time by becoming the first Black woman to play for the U.S. Senior National team.
“It’s an honor and a privilege,” said Laila. “It’s something that I’m very grateful for that I can be, that you’re a barrier breaker and role model for another young girl, and especially a young girl of color.”
It’s an amazing accomplishment, one that at times looked to be a far-fetched dream due to the experiences they encountered by being Black girls in a predominantly white sport.
It was difficult, but with the support of each other, their parents and the general hockey community, they overcame the challenges to succeed.
Now they’re inspirations to other young Black girls who want to play the sport as well, which is a responsibility they accept.
“It helps when you’re going even through a tough time in hockey,” Laila said to WKOW. “I’m going to keep going because of those little girls wearing my jersey little girls of color who feel underrepresented.”
On Sunday night, Wisconsin lost to Ohio St. in the championship game of the Frozen Four. While disappointing, it’s not the end of the road in the sport for the Edward sisters.
Thanks to their perseverance and success, the two will now be mentioned in the same conversations as players who inspired young girls before them such as former Princeton star, NWHL Champion and Arcadia women’s head hockey coach Kelsey Koelzer and former Yale star and PHF Champion, Saroya Tinker.
