The role model we need in 2024.

Do you know what I needed this week?

Wholesome pictures of Mary Fowler being an absolute boss in her new role as the face of L’Oreal Paris. 

In case you missed it, here are a few highlights:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maz (@maryfowlerrr)

She's the first female athlete to be named as a brand ambassador in Australia and New Zealand, and is exactly the kind of role model we should be promoting in 2024. Talented, smart, kind and best of all; uncomplicated.

We live in a reality where (frustratingly), our sporting heroes keep letting us down. 

From the NRL and AFL to cricket and tennis - the amount of headlines about players doing illegal and harmful things off the field or throwing hissy fits on the court, is astounding. 

Even the Matildas - who stole Australians' hearts at last year's Women's World Cup - are unfortunately getting negative press right now with captain Sam Kerr about to face a criminal trial in the UK for allegedly racially harassing a police officer. 

This is all the more reason why we need to turn our attention to players like Fowler. 

She's the youngest player on the team at the age of 21, but mature beyond her years.

She's been rising the ranks in the soccer world since the age of 15, and still as humble as ever. 

She's talented as heck. To throw out one example, during the Matildas match against the Chinese Taipei late last year, she scored what the sporting world calls “a long-range strike" in the 62nd minute while Australia was tied 0-0. Commentators called it "thunderous" and "amazing."

Watch the kick below:

Her personal life is... refreshingly normal. 

Her love-life (with footy star Nathan Cleary), is unproblematic.

She's also female! A woman of colour! 

For so long our sporting heroes have mainly been white dudes. Female swimmers and tennis stars have had their moments, but in the more 'blokey' sports like soccer and football, the women's versions have been shoved to the side. 

We're finally in an age where we're starting to shake-up that narrative, and building off of the Matildas insane success in 2023 is a brilliant way to make sure we continue that.

As Holly Wainwright wrote for Mamamia during the height of the Matildas hype, "women's sport is forever altered, that we've just lived through a test case of whether female excellence can attract eyeballs and dollar bills at a level we've always been told was impossible".

For once, we saw women's sport bringing all ages and all genders together and it was bloody glorious. 

But I'll admit, as I watched the mania reach its fever-pitch, I worried about the comedown. How would we keep that momentum going in 2024? How would we make sure society doesn't turn away from women's sport and female athletes once again?

We keep the fandom rolling, that's how.

We put players like Mary Fowler on billboards. We don't let people forget them.

It's not rocket science. This is the treatment male athletes have had forever; they do good, they get brand deals, they get plastered on every magazine and little boys and girls end up wearing jerseys with their number on the back.

We need more female role models. 

We need more female sporting heroes. 

We need more Mary Fowlers. 

She's exactly the kind of role model we should be promoting in 2024.

Feature image: @maryfowlerrr

Calling all Australians aged 18+ years…we want to hear from you! Complete this survey now to go in the running to win a $50 gift voucher.