USA Hockey's Laila Edwards Reveals Travis Kelce Donated to Help Fund Her Family's Olympics Travel

USA Hockey forward Laila Edwards revealed in an interview with Skyler Caruso of People Magazine that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, a fellow Cleveland Heights, Ohio native, has donated to her family's GoFundMe fundraiser so they can support her at the Winter Olympics in Italy in February.

"They've helped out with my family's GoFundMe to go over there and support me," Edwards told Caruso. "My family put up a GoFundMe, and [Travis] donated... he's been in touch a little bit on how else he can help."

"So I mean, those are just really good guys," she said about Travis and his older brother, Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce. "They're really good people, too, outside of their athletic abilities."

The 21-year-old Edwards, a star forward for the University of Wisconsin, just helped lead the United States to gold at the 2025 World Championships. She's also guided Wisconsin to national championships in 2023 and 2025, amassing 76 goals and 111 assists over her three-plus collegiate seasons.

In 2023, she became the first Black woman to play for the U.S. women's senior national ice hockey team.

Edwards spoke with Caruso about the Kelce brothers giving her a shoutout after that accomplishment during a 2023 episode of the podcast. She then said she reached out on social media to thank them and got a great response.

"I thought, 'I'll just message them, thanking them, they'll never see it,' " Edwards told Caruso. "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 that the Kelce brothers complimented her for making the Olympic team as well. She'll make history in Italy in February as the first Black woman to represent Team USA in women's hockey at the Winter Games.

The United States opens pool play on Feb. 5 against Czechia.