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Travis Kelce helps pay for family of hockey star Laila Edwards to see her play in Olympics

Edwards, the first Black player to make the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, is from the same Ohio town as Jason and Travis Kelce.

Laila Edwards (center) will become the first Black woman to suit up for Team USA in Olympic women's hockey. Her parents, Charone Gray-Edwards (left) and Robert Edwards, will get to see her in person thanks partially to a donation from some fellow Cleveland Heights natives.
Laila Edwards (center) will become the first Black woman to suit up for Team USA in Olympic women's hockey. Her parents, Charone Gray-Edwards (left) and Robert Edwards, will get to see her in person thanks partially to a donation from some fellow Cleveland Heights natives.Read moreSue Ogrocki / AP

Laila Edwards, the first Black player to make the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, could become one of the breakout stars of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

She’s also from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the hometown of Jason and Travis Kelce. The brothers experimented with hockey growing up before committing to football, and they remain fans of the game.

In November 2023, when Edwards first made the women’s national team, they gave her a shout-out on New Heights.

“I thought, ‘I’ll just message them thanking them, they’ll never see it,’” Edwards told People. “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. They shouted me out again recently for making the Olympic team.”

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Their support didn’t end there. Edwards told People that Travis made a large donation to her family’s GoFundMe page, which has raised over $50,000 to help her family fly to Milan to support her and the U.S. women’s national team.

Kylie Kelce will be on-site in Milan, after NBC named her as part of its Creator Collective. Jason and Kylie attended the Paris Olympics, and supported field hockey, volleyball, and women’s rugby. This time, Edwards hopes to see them at some of her games.

“Travis was saying that Jason and Kylie are big fans of mine, and I’m hoping to meet them all in Italy,” Edwards said.

Jason and Travis Kelce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.