Ilona Maher is funny. That’s just a fact. The U.S. women’s rugby star blew up at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo because of her viral behind-the-scenes TikToks. She then became a household name at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after deftly shutting down trolls on social media. Oh, and because she led the United States to their first ever medal in rugby.
She is funny and that’s why we know her name. But Ilona Maher is also a female athlete who loves her sport and that is why she wants us to know her name.
“I think what's so interesting is you can ask many people in the world who some of the top rugby players are. They might not know who women's rugby players are,” Maher told FanSided in a recent interview. “You talk to them about that funny girl who also plays rugby on TikTok and they're like, oh, Ilona Maher.”
Maher is one of the many athletes who understands the game they’re playing — not just the one on the field. Women in sports don’t just get to put the ball in the hoop, kick it into the goal or touch it down on the pitch and enjoy the world’s attention for it.
“It's just sad for our sport that you can't just be good at our sport, right? It's the sad fact about women's sports. You can't be good, you also have to do more off of it. That’s a challenge, a burden that we have to bear. We have to do more to get more eyes.”
FanSided is celebrating Women's History Month and International Women's Day by recognizing the women transforming the sports landscape on and off the field and redefining what it means to lead and inspire. Check out the full list here.
Ilona Maher's mastery of social media is a roadmap for women in sports
Maher has done an exceptional job getting those eyeballs on her and her sport. She’s done it by being entertaining, relatable and by not holding back.
“It's very scary to put yourself out there like that and to share something, not knowing what the reaction will be. But like if we want this sport to grow, we've now seen that this is the way to do it. We need to put ourselves on social media and have the world see.”
Unfortunately, more eyes means more scrutiny. For women, that scrutiny can be piercing. Maher herself has faced untold waves of body-shaming, misogyny and internet trolling. It’s like the ugliest incarnation of the patriarchy attempting to deliver the same message: This is what awaits the woman who dares to put herself out there.
That’s what makes Maher’s unapologetically confident approach all the more effective. Tell her she weighs too much, and she’ll remind you that she’s going to the Olympics and you’re not. And the world loved her for it. That is what awaits the woman who dares.
Women’s rugby is bigger than it’s ever been, and Maher is to thank
Maher continues to provide a road map to other female athletes in real time. How to be authentic. How to be open. And, critically, how to retain your confidence while doing so. The goal is to convince all the other talented women around her to do the same.
“It's a constant battle of me messaging these girls being like, if you don't post this on your reels, I'm gonna block you," Maher jokes. "I love them, but also they're annoying me by not [showing] how funny they are and not fully putting themselves out there.”
There’s a cost to going all in on self-marketing, but there’s also a reward. Women’s rugby is bigger than it’s ever been, and Maher has played a huge role in that. Her Bristol Bears of the Premiership Women’s Rugby League have seen surging attendance since she joined the team in January. When they traveled to play Harlequins Women, a record crowd of 6,700 were on hand.
“That's tangible. That's butts in seats. That's people paying to watch women's rugby,” says Maher.
That’s not the 66,000 that packed the Stade de France to watch the women’s rugby sevens at the Olympics, but the point is there were 66,000 fans there to watch a day of women’s rugby sevens. That crowd surpassed the previous biggest crowd of 58,498 in 2023. And it’s a record that can itself be broken.
The sport is growing.
“I can see the impact, but it also makes you hungry for more. That's why it also makes me hungry to get more girls to do it, because could you imagine if there was like three, four, 15 more mes in this league? How many seats would be filled? How many people would be watching our game? So that's why I'm like, I love to be this superstar, but at this time I want more.”
Nike launched an ad campaign during the Super Bowl zooming in on the contradictory expectations and judgements put on female athletes.
“You can’t be confident. So be confident,” the commercial says. “You can’t challenge. So challenge. You can’t dominate. So dominate. You can’t flex. So flex. You can’t fill a stadium. So fill that stadium.”
You can’t want more. So want more.
“I'm tired! I need to go on vacation and I need somebody else to be funny!” Maher laughs.