Ilona Maher's Father Got Her Into Rugby — Meet Her Parents

This is the second time that American rugby player Ilona Maher is competing in the Summer Olympic Games after making her debut at the international games during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. As a native of Burlington, Vt., Ilona grew up playing sports, though she didn't get into rugby until she was 17.

Previously, the athlete oscillated her athletic skills between field hockey, basketball, and soccer while in high school before she was convinced to play rugby by her father.

Now, 10 years later, she's competing for the U.S. in the international sports tournament — but she couldn't have done it without her parents' coaching. Here's what we know about Ilona's parents.

Ilona's parents, Mike and Mieneke Maher, were big supporters of their daughter's athletic pursuits growing up, and in an interview with WCAX, Mieneke reminisced on the years she spent watching games from the Burlington High School bleachers.

“It’s a pain in the butt to sit on those wooden planks or on those horrible stamps and you know, have to you know, finish dinner or not, but enjoy it because before you know it, it’s done,” Mieneke told the outlet.

It was actually her father, Mike, who convinced her to give rugby a try when she was 17. While attending Saint Michael's College, Mike was also a rugby player, playing 15s while his daughter plays sevens. The change happened after years of being a top athlete in the other sports she competing in, and she was itching to try something else.

“By spring of my senior year [of high school], I [felt] done with softball," she told Forbes. "I’d done winter pitching clinics, done my time in the outfield. I just was sick of not a lot of movement going on.”

After trying rugby in her first pickup game, she said the sport fit "like a glove, it just fit my body."

"I scored three tries and got a couple of tackles right after that,” she continued. “My dad will tell you; he was so hyped about it.”

From there, she quickly became a starter and was eventually recruited to play for Quinnipiac University, where she was part of the NIRA All-American selection and a finalist or the MA Sorensen Award for National Player of the Year.

Though this will be Ilona's second Olympics, this will be the first time her parents are able to travel internationally to support their daughter. Mike and Mieneke were unable to join her on her travels to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics, as the COVID-19 pandemic greatly restricted travel for family members who wanted to attend and support their Olympians.

“I think my heart’s gonna be pounding, I’m unable to sit. I can never see, I’m always a, you know, mover and I can’t do that,” Mieneke said before attending the games. “I get very nervous because you want always the very, very best for your child.”