DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Before Eseta Moala found rugby, getting dressed for sports could make her feel she did not belong.

As one of the “bigger children,” Moala says she felt uncomfortable in fitted outfits for ballet and karate.

Until, at 11, she discovered girls and boys her size or bigger in the world of rugby.

“I was able to fit in and finally use my body to my advantage,” Moala says.

That sense of belonging carried her to the ongoing Youth Olympic Games for under-18 athletes in Senegal, where Eseta represented the United States with her sister Luisa. A co-captain of the women’s rugby sevens team, Luisa also carried the American flag at the opening ceremony.

How an American star inspired the sisters

For Eseta, the journey has been encouraged by another U.S. rugby player: Ilona Maher, who helped the U.S. win bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics and brought new attention to the sport at home.

Maher is the world’s most followed rugby player on social media with nearly nine million followers thanks in large part to her promotion of body positivity and women’s sports. Typical of her messages was this post on Instagram before the Paris Games: “All body types are worthy from the smallest gymnast to the tallest volleyball player, from a rugby player to a shot-putter and a sprinter.” Maher encourages young girls to “see themselves” in the athletes.

Eseta says Maher’s success on the field and embrace of her muscular build has helped her appreciate her own body.

“She uses her body as a source of confidence, I felt like I could do the same thing,” Eseta says. “I got to see other girls do it, too, that are my size or even bigger than me.”

The sisters scored for the US

The Moala sisters were part of a U.S. team that finished sixth in Dakar, where Africa is hosting an Olympic event for the first time.

Despite losing their first two games against Madagascar and the Czech Republic by close margins, the team finished on a high with two wins in three games on Tuesday, the last day of the competition. Eseta and Luisa both scored tries.

For the sisters, representing the United States also meant carrying their family and Tongan heritage onto an international stage.

“In our (Tongan) culture,” Luisa says, “everyone’s family and no one’s above the other.”

Being a flag bearer gave her the chance to meet athletes from other countries, to laugh as they tried to communicate when they did not share the same language. But Luisa also missed Eseta during that brief moment and told Gardner it was the longest the sisters had ever been apart.

“They’re fantastic at playing off of each other and being able to read each other’s movements,” Gardner says.

More girls interested in rugby in the US

The coach says she has seen more girls in the U.S. expressing an interest to play rugby since the Paris Olympics, and credits coaches and communities with creating opportunities.

World Rugby has also been making a concerted push to improve rugby’s visibility in the U.S. after awarding the country the men’s Rugby World Cup in 2031 and the women’s tournament in 2033.

Challenges remain for young players, particularly the limited time the U.S. national youth program can offer as there’s only one camp and one or two competitions a year, Gardner says.

For Eseta, rugby has already changed the way she thinks about a body that once made her feel out of place. The sport has introduced her to others her age who look like her, and she adds Maher offers an example of someone who relishes that strength in public.

That connection even became personal.

During a jersey presentation ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, the Youth Olympic players received personalized video messages from players from the senior U.S. rugby teams.

Maher recorded one of those individual videos.

It was for Eseta.