Kildunne and Maher honoured with Barbie dolls, celebrating women’s sport
England Red Roses star Ellie Kildunne has been honoured with her own Barbie doll alongside US sensation Ilona Maher.
The pair are two of four players – alongside New Zealand’s Portia Woodman and France’s Nassira Konde – to have dolls created for them by Barbie owner Mattel.
It comes after the Red Roses partnered with Barbie en route to their Women’s Rugby World Cup triumph last month in front of a record 81,000 crowd at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.
The dolls are one-of-a-kind and will not be made available to the public, but it is hoped seeing four new women receive Barbie dolls can help inspire girls into sport.
Kildunne’s trademark curly hair features on her doll, alongside a Red Roses ball and a nose ring.
Kildunne and dusted
The Harlequins full-back said she “thought nothing could come close to the feeling of lifting that trophy but having my own one-of-a-kind Barbie doll is a very close second”.
“It’s been such an incredible year for women’s sport in England,” she added. “And I’m so proud of what the Red Roses have achieved; we are showing the next generation of girls that you can do anything, that being strong and fast is powerful, and that you can break boundaries.”
Mattel made a £20,000 donation to the Rugby Football Union – England’s governing body – to help it commit to increase the number of female players in the sport, with the Barbie partnership coming as research from the duo has shown that a third of girls “disengage in sport by the age of 14, driven by concerns over body confidence, self-doubt, and a lack of visible female role models in sport”.
Mattel’s Krista Berger said that by “showcasing the stories of incredible role models whose confidence has unlocked ground-breaking success, we’re showing girls that the future of sports – or wherever their passion lies – is theirs to claim, with Team Barbie cheering them on”.