From the first Black woman on Team USA's women's national team, to score for USA, and to play at the World Championships and Olympics, Laila Edwards becomes the highest drafted Black woman in PWHL history at the PWHL Draft, in a city known for women's Black history.
Laila Edwards is a star. She was the 2024 World Championship MVP as a forward, and a 2026 Olympic All-Star as a defender. In the NCAA, Edwards was an All-American and national champion.
Now, the expected top five pick, has continued to make history. Edwards recently became the first Black woman to play for Team USA at the World Championships, and first Black woman to play for USA at the Olympics, and now she's the earliest selection of a Black woman in PWHL Draft history. In the inaugural 2023 PWHL Draft, Sophie Jaques was picked 10th overall.
Edwards did not dismiss the opportunity, or chance to represent, not just Black women and girls, but all those looking for a space in sport.
"I think that would mean everything, not just for me and my family, but for the young girls that I'm representing and can be an inspiration to...representation matters," said Edwards.
"That's the number one thing... just to be able to create a space where everyone feels welcome. No matter what you look like, who you love, what you believe in, that's really important to me."
The PWHL and women's hockey has several prominent Black women in the league and sport including Edwards, Sophie Jaques, Sarah Nurse, and Mikyla Grant-Mentis, and there's the potential for more Black women, beyond Edwards, including Jade Iginla and Katelyn Roberts to join the league through the 2026 Draft.
Edwards knows the importance of Black women being visible in hockey.
"To potentially be the highest Black woman drafted it's just another opportunity for me like to be put out there and more eyes on me," she said. "In order to make that impact, getting to the highest level is great, but succeeding at the highest level is even more important just to show those young Black girls they have a space in this game."
To do it in Detroit, a city where Black history and Black women's history is rich, adds another layer. When PWHL Detroit was announced, Mayor Mary Sheffield, who is the first woman, and first Black woman to ever hold the role in Detroit's more than 300 year history, attended to speak on women's hockey coming to Detroit.
And historically, figures like Rosa Parks, Ruth Ellis, Fannie Peck, or famed Black women of soul and Motown including Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Diana Ross, have brought representation and change to the world, through Detroit.
"The Black history here is so rich, to hopefully make history here again would be a great honor," said Edwards of being drafted in Detroit.
When Laila Edwards steps on the stage at the Fox Theatre as the highest ever selection of a Black woman at the PWHL Draft, she'll make more history, and pave the way for more Black women, including in Detroit, to make their mark in hockey.