Fairy tales against all odds
How a black girl conquered white sports
By Heiko Oldörp
December 24, 2023, 7:46 a.m
When she watched the women’s national team games on TV, Laila Edwards never saw a black player. She was always the only African American in the locker room. Now Edwards is America’s first black female ice hockey national player – and above all, she wants to be a role model.
Jackie Robinson doesn’t need much explanation in US sports history. His name is the epitome of a pioneer. For someone who has achieved something historic. Robinson became the first black man to play in Major League Baseball on April 15, 1947.
His debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers was nothing short of a revolution. Baseball was America’s favorite sport at the time – but it was also strictly segregated. The best whites played in the MLB, the best blacks in the Negro Leagues. Then Robinson came along and broke the so-called “color barrier”.
Honor, pride and melancholy
Laila Edwards did something similar a few weeks ago. Almost 76.5 years after Robinson. The 19-year-old was the first black member of the US women’s national ice hockey team. On November 11, Edwards made his debut in a 5-2 win in Los Angeles against Canada. She then said it was “an honor” and that she was “grateful and proud.”
However, she also felt audibly melancholy. As beautiful and as historic as it all was, she was also sad that it took so long until a black woman was finally allowed to wear the national jersey, said Edwards.
Lots of success, little diversity
Blake Boldon could have been the one to make history back in 2012. The defender was invited to the World Cup preparation training camp. And according to the opinions of many experts, Bolton should have made it into the final squad, but was still not nominated. A year later she experienced it all again. Nothing happened for ten years after that – then along came Laila Edwards. Her idol: Blake Boldon.
The Ice Hockey World Championship for women has existed since 1990. At that time, the USA had around 6,000 registered players. The number has now risen to 88,000 and the USA is the dominant nation alongside Canada, having won two Olympic gold medals and ten world championships. However, what has remained almost the same over the past 33 years: the lack of diversity.
Ice hockey instead of figure skating – “luckily”
Ice hockey is still considered a white sport – for both women and men. The percentage of black people is in the low single digits. “Growing up, I always watched the national team games and really enjoyed it,” Edwards remembers. What was missing: “Someone who looks like me.”
She started playing ice hockey as a five-year-old. She actually wanted to become a figure skater, says Edwards, but her father, an ice hockey player, had other plans for her. “Luckily,” she says today. Edwards noticed early on that she was always the only black person in the locker room – and that there was a pigeonholing of people with her skin color.
White sport ice hockey more accessible for black children?
For example, when she came to a large sports complex, the person at the reception immediately showed her the way to the basketball hall. A tall, black girl – apparently that could only be a basketball player. After all, that’s how it’s always been. Of course, Edwards also noticed the surprised and sometimes even astonished looks when she then confidently answered that she was here “to play ice hockey.”
In the days following her debut, the striker received a lot of messages. Messages full of gratitude. Messages that made her feel like she was “making a difference.” Because of her and her first appearance in the US national jersey, this white sport of ice hockey has perhaps now become a little more tangible for black children – and therefore more realistic.
Inspiration for black girls and boys
Edwards has created a platform and can now use it so that maybe young people who never thought about playing hockey can go to their parents and ask if they could get a pair of skates, says Mark Johnson. He coaches Edwards at the University of Wisconsin, where the teenager is in her second year.
Edwards knows about her role as a role model – and accepts it. She wants to be an inspiration for all girls and boys, she says, but especially for black girls and boys. “I want them to see me and say, ‘If she can do it, I can do it too.'”
Next goal: make World Cup history
There have been several pioneers in the history of women’s ice hockey. Canadian Angela James became the first black inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. Her compatriot Sarah Nurse became the first black woman to win Olympic gold in 2022. Julie Chu was the first US national team player of Asian descent at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, and Abby Roque was the indigenous pioneer in Beijing last year.
The name Laila Edwards has also been on this list for a few weeks. And she could soon make history again – as the first black member of the US national team at a World Cup. It would even be a home game for them. The tournament will be held April 3-14 in Utica, New York.