Ilona Maher
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Ilona Delsing Rosa Maher ( ; born August 12, 1996) is an American
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player. As of December 2024, she has signed for
Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...
in the
Premiership Women's Rugby Premiership Women's Rugby – officially known as Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby or The Allianz PWR – is an annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition at the highest level of the English rugby union system, and is run b ...
league and began playing for them in January 2025. She won bronze with the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in
rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...
at the
2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
. Maher took up rugby at age 17, and went on to win three
National Intercollegiate Rugby Association The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) is a governing body of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) collegiate women's rugby programs in the United States founded in 2015. History The NIRA traces roots back to 2015 when ...
(NIRA) championships as a college player at
Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University ( ) is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut, United States. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. It also hosts the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. History What became ...
. After debuting in 2018, she represented the United States national team at the
2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
and
2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
. She is also known for her
body positivity Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instea ...
advocacy.


Early life and education

Maher was born on August 12, 1996, in
Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...
, to Michael and Mieneke Maher. Her mother is a
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
native who works as a nurse. Her father, who has Irish ancestry, is a former rugby player who previously played for
Saint Michael's College Saint Michael's College (St. Mikes) is a private Catholic college in Colchester, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund, it grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in more than 40 majors to abou ...
. Maher's older sister, Olivia, is a social media content creator who is known for coining the term " girl dinner" on
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
. Maher and her sisters started playing "high-level" sports such as
field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
and Little League
softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...
at a young age. During the spring of her senior year at Burlington High School, Maher grew tired with softball and was encouraged by her father to play rugby. She attended
Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...
for one year before transferring to
Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University ( ) is a private university in Hamden, Connecticut, United States. The university grants undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. It also hosts the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. History What became ...
, where she graduated in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in nursing. She later received a master's degree in business administration from DeVry University.


Rugby career

Maher began playing rugby for the South Burlington School Rugby Football Club at the age of 17. She had previously played field hockey, basketball, and softball at Burlington High School, and was encouraged to try rugby by her father, who played for
Saint Michael's College Saint Michael's College (St. Mikes) is a private Catholic college in Colchester, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund, it grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in more than 40 majors to abou ...
. Maher played rugby during her first and only year at
Norwich University Norwich University is a private university in Northfield, Vermont, United States. The university was founded in 1819 as the "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy". It is the oldest of six senior military college, senior militar ...
. She was then recruited to join the
Quinnipiac Bobcats The Quinnipiac Bobcats are the 21 sports teams representing Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut in intercollegiate athletics. The Bobcats compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, joining o ...
after Quinnipiac coach Becky Carlson observed her during a match between the two schools. After transferring to Quinnipiac, Maher played center and won three
National Intercollegiate Rugby Association The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) is a governing body of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) collegiate women's rugby programs in the United States founded in 2015. History The NIRA traces roots back to 2015 when ...
(NIRA) championships. She was named to the NIRA All-American team all three years and received the MA Sorensen Award, given to the nation's top collegiate women's rugby player, in 2017. She was nominated for the award again after her senior season in 2018 and was named the Most Outstanding Player at the NIRA Championships that year. While still at Quinnipiac, Maher also played 7s for Scion Rugby Academy, where she impressed coaches Richie Walker and
Emilie Bydwell Emilie Bydwell (born 31 August 1985) is a Canadian American rugby union coach and former player. Bydwell was a three-time All-American at Brown University and was also selected as the 2007 Collegiate Player of the Year. While at Brown University ...
, who selected her for the national rugby sevens team. Maher made her debut with the USA Rugby World Cup Sevens team in 2018 at a
Women's SVNS The World Rugby SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is a series of international rugby sevens tournaments for women's national teams run by World Rugby. The inaugural series was held in 2012–13 as the successor to the IRB W ...
tournament in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Maher was chosen to her first Olympic team at the
2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
in Tokyo, which was the sport's second appearance at the games. She scored three tries throughout the tournament as the United States finished in sixth place. While attending the Olympics, she posted several behind-the-scenes videos that went viral on
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
. She was selected again to represent the United States at the
2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth and final edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in Sep ...
in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, where she helped the national team reach the semifinals. In 2023, she had a severe injury from a collision during a training session against a men's rugby team. She dislocated her tibia and broke her fibula. Her mother, a nurse, immediately flew out to help her through the injury. Initially, Maher was expected to be out for the rest of the 2023 season, but was able to get back in the game in time to help Team USA win gold at the
Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...
. Maher helped lead the United States to bronze at the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
in Paris, the country's first Olympic medal in the sport. She scored tries in all three of their group stage matches. After being eliminated by gold medalists
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
in the semifinals, the United States narrowly defeated
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in the bronze medal match.


Bristol Bears

In December 2024, she signed for
Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...
in
Premiership Women's Rugby Premiership Women's Rugby – officially known as Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby or The Allianz PWR – is an annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition at the highest level of the English rugby union system, and is run b ...
league in England on a three-month deal until the end of the season. Her contract officially began in January 2025. In response to unprecedented demand for tickets to see her debut, the fixture was moved from Shaftesbury Park, the regular home for the Bristol Bears Women to Ashton Gate to accommodate a larger capacity crowd. She made her debut for Bristol in the Premiership off the bench in a 40–17 home loss to Gloucester-Hartpury in front of a club record crowd of 9,240. The following game she scored her first try for the club, a 41–31 away victory against
Exeter Chiefs Women Exeter Chiefs Women are a professional women's rugby union team based in Exeter, Devon, England. They were founded in 2019 to take part in the Premier 15s, the top level of English women's rugby. They are based at Sandy Park and are affiliated t ...
.


In the media

Maher has used her social media following to advocate
body positivity Body positivity is a social movement that promotes a positive view of all bodies, regardless of size, shape, skin tone, gender, and physical abilities. Proponents focus on the appreciation of the functionality and health of the human body instea ...
and increased awareness of women's sports. In 2024, she was announced as a brand ambassador for
Secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...
deodorant, as well as a skincare brand that she co-founded, Medalist. She is the most followed rugby player on
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
. In July 2024, she threw out the first pitch at a
San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...
game. In August 2024, she posed for the cover of the swimsuit edition of ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
''. In December 2024, she made the
Forbes 30 under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...
list. In April 2025, it was announced that she'd return to ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit edition again.


''Dancing with the Stars''

In September 2024, Maher was announced as one of the celebrities competing on season 33 of the reality television series ''
Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...
,'' partnered with
Alan Bersten Alan Bersten (born 26 May 1994) is an American professional Latin and ballroom dancer. He was a contestant on the tenth season of ''So You Think You Can Dance'' and is currently a professional dancer and choreographer on ''Dancing with the Stars ...
. She is the first rugby player to compete on the show, and the first female partner in ''Dancing with the Stars'' history to lift her male partner. They reached the finale and finished as the runners-up on November 26, 2024, behind '' The Bachelor'' star
Joey Graziadei Joseph Michael Graziadei (born May 24, 1995) is an American television personality who is best known as the runner-up on season 20 of ''The Bachelorette'', and as the star of season 28 of '' The Bachelor''. He is the winner of season 33 of ''D ...
and his partner
Jenna Johnson Jenna Leigh Johnson (born September 11, 1967) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. As a 16-year-old, Johnson represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. She won three me ...
. 1 Score awarded by guest judge
Rosie Perez Rosa Maria Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came at age 24 with her portrayal of Tina in the film '' Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's performance in '' Fear ...

2 Score awarded by guest judge
Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

3 Score awarded by guest judge
Mark Ballas Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986) is an American dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. From 2007 to 2022, Ballas was a professional dancer on the ABC dance competition program ''Dancing with the Stars'', w ...


References


External links

*
Ilona Maher
at
USA Rugby USA Rugby (formally the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby ...

archive February 22, 2025archive July 7, 2022
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maher, Ilona Living people 1996 births 21st-century American sportswomen American female rugby sevens players American female rugby union players Burlington High School (Vermont) alumni DeVry University alumni Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Norwich Cadets athletes Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in rugby sevens Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in rugby sevens Quinnipiac University alumni Rugby sevens players at the 2019 Pan American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Rugby sevens players at the 2023 Pan American Games Rugby sevens players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Burlington, Vermont United States women's international rugby union players Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in rugby sevens Participants in American reality television series American people of Dutch descent