CHANTELLE Swaby can’t wait to get started at Rangers after joining the club from Sky Blue in America.
The 22-year-old defender has had to wait a little longer than expected to get into training with her teammates with the suspension of the SWPL but they have reached out and made her feel welcome in Scotland.
Speaking to RangersTV after signing with the club, she said: “It feels great to be here, as soon as I got the call from the coaches and they expressed how interested they were in me it was definitely something that I put first on my plate.
“A bunch of the girls have reached out to me and it is very welcoming and I am very excited that I chose a club that has such a family-oriented team.
“That is something that I have always gravitated towards and always appreciated because when I am away from home I still want to be able to feel like I am around my family members and that is something that I am really interested in to be able to build a bond with the girls on the team and the coaches.”
The centre-back starred for Rutgers University in New Jersey before being drafted into the Sky Blue squad on a short-term deal last year.
She also featured for Jamaica at the 2019 FIFA World Cup. Prior to the competition, Jamaica faced Scotland at Hampden with a record 18,000 in attendance.
Swaby said the experience drew her to making the move to Scotland.
She added: “Rangers is a great organisation and it is a huge club which is something that I love being a part of.
“I feel like the level of play, I have watched a lot of their games they have been performing really well so I kind of feel that it will be a really great fit for me.
“Before we went to the world cup with Jamaica we came to Scotland and we played the Scotland National Team and I loved the whole environment. It was a great experience for me so I definitely think that is also something that made me gravitate towards Scotland.
Swaby, who has played as a centre-back and in midfield, feels she is a composed player and hopes to bring that to Rangers.
She added: “I like to be relaxed, I don't like when stuff is flustered. I think I am able to slow the game down at a nice pace but definitely able to calm people down when it gets a bit frantic on the field.
“I’m 5 ft 10 so I am a big presence on the field so I think that is even visually why some coaches gravitate towards me because I am a bigger player so I am hoping I can offer those strengths with Rangers.”
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