It All Started Here: Ilona Mayer

For Ilona Maher and her sisters of Burlington, Vermont, playing sports was part of growing up. They all participated in the athletics offered by local associations as preteens, mostly field hockey, basketball and softball. Maher took up those sports during her four years at Burlington High School. Looking for something a bit more challenging and encouraged by her father, who had played rugby at nearby St. Michaels College, Maher joined the local rugby club as the sport was not offered at her high school at that time. Enrolling at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, she played her first year there. Recruited by the coach at Quinnipiac College, Ilona transferred there to play center and was a part of that college’s three-peat as National Intercollegiate Rugby Champion, named to the All-American Team all three years. She also received the nation’s top women rugby award her senior year. Maher also played club rugby and was part of the U.S. national team that competed internationally in 2018. Selected for the U.S. Women’s Rugby Olympic team for the 2020 Olympics, she continued to play on national teams and was a part of the bronze medal team, the team’s first, at the 2024 Paris Olympics.