Social media hit Ilona Maher takes women’s rugby to a new plane

PARIS – Ilona Maher transcends women’s rugby, giving it a profile outside of the sport in the way that Mia Hamm did for women’s football.

Now the stage is set at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England for the American to spark even more interest.

The 29-year-old phenomenon has attracted over eight million followers on social media, not only through her sporting exploits but also for her promotion of body positivity.

She played a pivotal role in the US women’s team winning a first-ever Olympic medal, beating Australia in the third-place play-off at Paris 2024.

On the back of that achievement, Maher featured in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition and appeared in the US version of hit TV show Dancing With The Stars, finishing as runner-up.

The Maher-fuelled improvement of the US team attracted the attention of American investor Michele Kang, who donated US$4 million (S$5.1 million) to help develop the US women’s rugby sevens team over four years.

In another sport, Kang owns the Lyon women’s football team, the eight-time European champions.

Maher’s days in Paris were not just spent playing rugby but also attracting even more followers with her pithy social media posts.

She compared life in the Athletes’ Village to a reality TV show, in one humorous posting saying she was there “looking for love”, to which her friend replies: “No you are here to play rugby.”

In more reflective mode in Paris, she told the Bleacher Report one of her goals was trying to reassure “girls” that playing sport did not take away their “girliness”.

“What we’re trying to show is the beauty that in sports you can be a badass on the field, you can be a beast on the field, but also be a beauty,” she said.

“It’s really important for me because I want girls to see what their body is capable of.

“It’s not just to be looked at, objectified, but it’s strong and it’s fast and it’s brilliant.”

Maher, who through her body positivity push has become a brand ambassador for a deodorant and a skincare product she co-founded, revels in her global popularity and being “America’s sweetheart”.

“I love when people call me that because I feel like I’m maybe not the image you would have of a sweetheart in some sense of the word,” she told CNN in January.

“I’m honoured.”

Maher, who hails from Vermont, may be extroverted and cheerful, but she keeps her ego in check by showing appreciation to women sports stars who paved the way for her.

Hamm, her fellow American and a groundbreaking football superstar of the 1990s and early noughties, a two-time Olympic and World Cup winner, features high on the list.

“I remember in our gym we always had a poster of Mia Hamm and that was always cool to look up to her,” Maher told the Bleacher Report.

Closer to home, though, she is part of a tight-knit family unit, with her father Michael, a keen rugby player who introduced her to the sport, Netherlands-born mum Mieneke, and sisters Olivia and Adrianna.

Elder sister Olivia has a considerable social media presence herself.

From her father Ilona not only learnt about rugby but also a crucial life lesson when he defended her at a softball event.

One of the other dads complained that Maher’s pitches were unhittable but he was put in his place by Maher senior.

“I think that was the first moment of being told to never tone it down,” she told CNN.

“Because that dad over there… wanted me to tone myself down so that it could be easier for (his daughter).

“But that’s not the world, is it? The world isn’t going to tone down for you.”

Instead, Maher has upped the ante, and the fruits for women’s rugby have been plentiful, as New Zealand legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe told AFP.

“Having someone from America with that American market who is very confident, loves rugby, loves supporting women’s bodies, someone as vocal as that is amazing for us,” Woodman-Wickliffe said.

“We need to capitalise and follow her as much as we can.” AFP