HCR 26

R-31  Page 1 of 1
2025
No. R-31. House concurrent resolution congratulating Ilona Delsing Rosa Maher on
her 2024 Paris Olympics rugby sevens bronze medal.
  (H.C.R.26)
   Offered by All Members of the House
   Whereas, rugby is not the most commonly played team sport in the United States, but
none is more exhilarating or exciting, and no Vermonter or American is more adept on
the rugby field than Ilona Maher, and
   Whereas, Ilona Maher graduated in 2014 from Burlington High School, where she
enthusiastically played basketball, field hockey, soccer, and softball, and she started her
love affair with rugby as a member of the South Burlington High School’s rugby football
club, and
   Whereas, initially attending Norwich University, the Quinnipiac University Bobcats
rugby coach recruited her, and for the next three years, she excelled as the Bobcats won
three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) women’s championships; in
each of these years, the NIRA named her to its All-American women’s team, and in
2017, the NIRA honored Ilona Maher as the nation’s top collegiate women’s rugby
player, and
   Whereas, this Quinnipiac University nursing graduate and master’s degree graduate of
DeVry University debuted as a women’s USA Rugby World Cup Sevens team member
in 2018 and represented the United States in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, and even more
exciting was her 2024 Paris Olympics appearance, where the U.S. women’s rugby sevens
team won its first-ever Olympic medal—a bronze—upon defeating Australia 14–12, and
   Whereas, following her return from France, Ilona Maher was honored at an ebullient
welcome home ceremony in Burlington’s Battery Park, and she has used her rugby fame
to promote women’s sports and body positivity, now therefore be it
   Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
  That the General Assembly congratulates Ilona Delsing Rosa Maher on her 2024 Paris
Olympics rugby sevens bronze medal, and be it further
   Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
Ilona Maher.
  VT LEG #382047 v.1