Ellie Boatman on rugby, body image, and redefining resilience

By Jennifer Bailey

Content warning: This article contains mention of eating disorders and mental health

In the wake of Eating Disorder Awareness Week, and just days before International Women’s Day, I had the opportunity to sit down with Ellie Boatman to talk all things rugby, body image, and the realities of navigating both.

Best known for her success on the rugby sevens stage and her Ealing Trailfinder’s contract, Ellie’s career is often associated with strength, discipline, and elite performance. However, behind that public image lies a far more complex journey of disordered eating and body insecurity. A journey which mirrors the experiences of many young people in sport and beyond.

Now a co-founder of ‘Beyond the Scale,’ an initiative that works to address eating disorders and body image pressures, Ellie is increasingly focused on using her experience, and platform, to challenge the silence that surrounds these issues. Her project began when she connected with eating disorder therapist, Elle Mace, who recognised a significant gap in the sporting landscape. Together, they set up a social media community and began delivering specialist talks and curated advice to clubs, particularly within women’s rugby and football.

Ellie’s career is often associated with strength, discipline, and elite performance

What has struck Ellie most through this work is how early body image concerns now emerge. She describes hearing girls as young as ten or eleven already expressing anxiety about their bodies.

“I just can’t even fathom these young girls thinking in that way,” she explains. “It’s just so incredible that it’s that young.”

While body image pressures are not new, Ellie believes the scale and visibility of them has intensified, especially since the rise of social media. At the same time, she notes that athletes often remain reluctant to speak openly due to fears surrounding selection, judgement, and appearing vulnerable in highly competitive environments.

Her own relationship with rugby began in an inspired way. Growing up in a rugby family, the sport was simply part of her everyday life.

“My parents actually had their rings carried in on a rugby ball at their wedding” she told me, smiling.

Her father played at a semi-professional level, and weekends revolved around training, matches, and club culture. Whilst her love for rugby existed before she even picked up a ball, she properly began to play the sport at the naive age of four. However, she admits she was only motivated by wanting to be included alongside her brother.

At that age, gender was not something she considered, and she played because she enjoyed it. Only later did she become aware she was often the only girl on the pitch during a time where opportunities for female players were far more limited than they are today. This meant the support she received from family and teachers were crucial for her development.

“One teacher made me vice-captain of the boys’ team. They still follow my progress to this day” Ellie recalls

It was this early belief which helped sustain her involvement in rugby throughout most of her childhood. Unfortunately, adolescence marked a significant turning point for Ellie. Between the ages of sixteen and early university years, Ellie stepped away from rugby entirely due to intensified body image pressures and unattainable cultural expectations. She described wanting to be “smaller” and to “fit in” with her peers, rather than embracing the strength that rugby required. Meanwhile, teasing and negative comments further reinforced these insecurities. Ellie believes that this period in her life reflects a broader pattern in women’s sport, where many athletes disengage during teenage years as their bodies develop and social pressures increase.

Like most students, the transition from home to university life proved challenging. For the first time, Ellie had full control over her food, routine, and lifestyle. Without the structure of home life and training, disordered eating behaviours quickly escalated.

She recalls become increasingly obsessive about exercise and dieting, losing significant weight while remaining largely unaware of the extent of the problem at the time. The situation was compounded by the independence of university life, where such changes can easily go unnoticed.

“I would walk an hour to the gym, work out, and walk home again. That wasn’t normal”

Her turning point emerged gradually following a return to rugby. As she began training again, she quickly recognised the physical consequences of under fuelling. Persistent fatigue, reduced strength, and poor recovery made it clear that her relationship with food was incompatible with athletic performance.

Equally significant was the mental toll it was taking. She describes reaching a point where she felt exhausted by the constant preoccupation with food and body image.

“It does consume your thoughts every single day,” she explains. “I just thought I don’t want to live this way my whole life.”

Her turning point emerged gradually following a return to rugby

Seeking help marked the beginning of a long process of recovery, one she emphasises remains ongoing. Ellie does not describe eating disorders as something that simply disappears, but rather as a condition that requires continuous management. Being an athlete has played a central role in reshaping her perspective. She now frames nutrition primarily in terms of performance and health, often reminding herself that her body is essential to her ability to compete. Her relationship with food today is grounded in balance by avoiding restrictive labels and rigid rules. Instead, she focuses on ensuring she consumes sufficient nutrients to support training, while maintaining flexibility and enjoyment around eating.

Growing up, Ellie had limited visibility of female rugby role models. However, she recalls knowing of Maggie Alphonsi, who later coached her, and being inspired by Olympic heptathlete Jessica Ennis Hill.

“I just thought she was so fit and amazing. She had a baby and then came back. It proved that women could do anything”

In retrospect, she also remembers hearing criticism of their “muscular” bodies and how shocking she found these comments. However, she now views these perspectives as the beginning of shifting attitudes towards women’s strength in sport.

Today, she sees encouraging progress in the growing acceptance of strength training for women. For Ellie, strength training is fundamentally about long term health, independence, and physical capability throughout life. As a coach and personal trainer, she works with clients across a wide age range and finds great satisfaction in helping individuals develop healthier relationships with exercise.

“We all bring different things,” she explains, “That’s the beauty of the sport”

Her message to female athletes, including those at Durham University, is clear. Sport thrives on the diversity of physical attributes, and attempting to conform to a single body ideal undermines both performance and wellbeing.

“We all bring different things,” she explains. “That’s the beauty of the sport.”

Ultimately, Ellie’s openness reflects a broader cultural shift within sport towards acknowledging vulnerability alongside resilience. By sharing her experiences, she hopes to create the kind of visible role model she herself lacked growing up. In doing so, she challenges the persistent perception that strength is purely physical, instead highlighting the equally important courage required to speak honestly about struggles that many athletes continue to face in silence.

If you are struggling with your mental health, please reach out to friends, family, or one of the following helplines:

– Durham’s Nightline Service: The number can be found on the back of your Student Campus Card.

– Durham University Counselling and Mental Health Service- https://durhamuniversity.sharepoint.com/teams/

– BEAT- https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/co

Image by Ellie Boatman