Ilona Maher: Give your physique grace, says rugby star

Rugby participant Ilona Maher has gained the hearts of followers and admirers along with her sporting expertise.

But it's her message of physique positivity that has attracted tens of millions of followers on social media.

The 28-year-old American-born athlete frequently takes to TikTok and Instagram to speak about physique positivity and being a high-profile girl in sports activities.

Since the Paris Olympics, she has grow to be one of many world's biggest rugby gamers, and there are hopes that her current transfer to UK group Bristol Bears may enhance the profile of the sport.

Even although she solely performed for 20 minutes in its place, her first match final weekend drew a report crowd for the group, which moved the match to a bigger venue.

The star sat round for greater than 90 minutes after the sport, posing for photographs and speaking to followers.

Speaking to BBC Newsbeat after her first match final weekend, Ilona stated she felt “honoured” to be a job mannequin for younger girls and ladies.

“My message [girls] Make sure you give yourself grace and be gentle with your body,” she says.

“There are going to be days when it's going to be hard to love it all the time, but give it grace and do things, whether it's dancing, rugby or going for a walk, to show it what it's capable of doing for you.”

Aspiring gamers Zara and Milly, who got here to look at the video games, instructed Newsbeat that Ilona helped them understand: “Just because you play a game, it doesn't define how you are as a person. “Can occur.”

“Ilona has modified the notion of physique picture by exhibiting you can be muscular, sturdy and highly effective and put on a costume,” says Zara, 16.

“Just because you play a sport, it doesn't define how you have to be as a person – how you have to look, how you have to behave.

“I know a lot of young girls struggle with this.”

Zara and teammate Millie, also 16, play for North Bristol Rugby Club.

When they both turned 12 they had to move to Bristol to continue playing due to the lack of local girls' teams.

“I've been playing rugby since I was about six years old and I used to play with boys up to U12, which is the age limit and you're not allowed to play with them anymore,” Zara says.

An athletic physique has “all the time been seen as a masculine factor,” says Millie.

,[Ilona’s] A role model for me because I'm quite tall and she's tall too and she finds beauty in it and has no shame in it.

For rugby union journalist and author Jessica Hayden, Ilona's message of body positivity is breaking a significant barrier in the women's game.

“Half the difficulty is that they don't have the alternatives and the golf equipment don't supply girls or ladies for them,” she tells Newsbeat.

“The different a part of the difficulty is that, once they get to that age, there are points with physique positivity.”

Jessica says there have been campaigns in the past to promote body confidence, but what impresses Ilona is her authenticity.

“Personality is the most important thing in sports because people want to understand who this athlete is,” she says.

“I actually preferred seeing the younger ladies speaking to him [after her debut] About what Ilona has achieved for them by way of how they view their our bodies.

“And I'm sure there's a buzz around the country about what she's doing for the sport.”

Teammates Millie and Zara say they’re excited to see the enhance Ilona is already bringing to the ladies's recreation.

A record-breaking crowd of 9,240 turned out to look at Ilona's Premiership girls's rugby debut as Bristol Bears defeated rivals Gloucester-Hartpury.

The determine is greater than double the Bears' earlier report attendance of 4,101 – to not point out a brand new premiership girls's rugby report for a standalone recreation.

“He has had a huge impact,” says Zara.

“They might not play rugby, they might never watch a rugby match, but because they follow him on Instagram and TikTok, they want to come and watch him.”

Jessica was additionally within the crowd and says she has “never seen anything like it”.

She says, “If you have all those fans who have come to see Ilona Maher, they can become Bristol Bears fans and then come back next week and the week after that.”

Ilona has signed a three-month cope with Bristol and Millie says it’s “a great opportunity to create more of a platform for women's rugby”.

Jessica is hopeful that can occur, particularly with England internet hosting the Women's Rugby World Cup this yr and Scheme to advertise girls participation In the sport.

“We could have a Lioness moment,” says Jessica, referring to the success of the England girls's soccer group.

“Attention [Ilona]Painting it now can only be a good thing for the wider game.

“Now is the time to invest in women's rugby – it's about to get even bigger.”

After leading for 20 minutes, Bristol Bears eventually lost 17–40 to rivals Gloucester-Hartpury and Ilona told Newsbeat she was “prepared for extra”.

“I feel happy, but hungry is the word – I'm ready to do more.”

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